


Future of Yours

by UnknownRegion



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: 3 Skelebros, Additional Warnings In Author's Note, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, But still underage because OC's body is young, Clumsy Gaster, Ecto-Genitalia (Undertale), Ecto-Tongue (Undertale), Ectobiology, M/M, Not underage because OC is over 21, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags, Post-Pacifist Route, References to Undertale Genocide Route, Reincarnation fic, Somewhat Incest(?), Veteran!Grillby, m/m - Freeform, monster hate groups, reincarnated into Undertale
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-07-06
Updated: 2018-04-08
Packaged: 2018-07-21 23:33:19
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 18
Words: 54,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7409542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnknownRegion/pseuds/UnknownRegion
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Died young? 凸(°ㅂ°#)<br/>Woke up as a skeleton? (」゜ロ゜)」<br/>Currently in a popular Video Game? 〣( ºΔº )〣<br/>Cyber crush who is now an elder brother?! (Ｔ▽Ｔ)・・・<br/>A villain who is not a villain but is actually a best friend...? ┐('～`;)┌<br/>Anti-Monster campaigns and a skele-ton of human hate groups? (╮°-°)╮┳━━┳ ( ╯°□°)╯ ┻━━┻<br/>...<br/>..<br/>.<br/>What happened to the supposed afterlife? ლ(ಠ_ಠლ)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Litter kills. Litterally. ヽ( `д´*)ノ

**Author's Note:**

  * For [GenderlessPerson](https://archiveofourown.org/users/GenderlessPerson/gifts).



> I do not own Undertale, obviously. Toby Fox is the genius behind this awesome game.

The sound of someone typing loudly on their keyboard was the first thing he heard as he slowly returned to the land of the living. It was a struggle to even open his eyes, but when he succeeded, the world was a blur of blue and grey. It was as if he were looking through a tinted glass aquarium after a week of no sleep. 

His body felt numb, and his mind was a mess. He vaguely remembered walking back from work, the sensation of gravity pulling him down, and then everything after was blank. It was disconcerting, and he felt the slightest tinges of fear creeping up his spine as he struggled to move his unresponsive body. 

What had happened? Was he kidnapped? Had he been injured? Was he trapped within his body? What the fuck was going on?!

Those thoughts made his fear escalate to newer levels and he whimpered unintentionally. It came out gurgled as if he was trying to let his voice out underwater. The typing had abruptly stopped, but he paid it no mind as he continued to struggle blindly, unwilling to accept that he could be paralysed. 

His body suddenly jerked in response to his determination, and he almost cheered, reassured that this was all a temporary side effect of... whatever had caused him to become unconscious in the first place. Or medication. Maybe some kind soul had brought him to a hospital and he was heavily dosed with painkillers? One can only hope. 

Now that he had calmed down considerably, he could hear a familiar beeping coming from his left. He ever so slowly turned his head to whatever was making the noise, and blinked groggily at seeing a distorted version of a heart monitor machine. 

He felt himself squinting to make out anything. His vision could be compared to when he went diving without his glasses. Did he, perhaps, injure his eyes? That would greatly suck. Eyeglasses were expensive when your prescription was as high as his. 

There was suddenly a tapping sound from the opposite side, and his body jerked in surprise, having not expected that. He would've whipped his head towards whoever or whatever had created that sound, but due to how lethargic he felt, he could only turn at a snail's speed. When he managed, all of his triumphs turned into fear at the sight of a warped, cracked skull leaning closely to him. 

All thoughts ceased as he unhinged his jaw to scream, but as his voice was unable to truly leave his throat, he merely gurgled out a few air bubbles that indicated his distress. Now that he paid extra attention to his surroundings, dread crept up his spine as his pupils darted left to right. He was in a laboratory. Inside a fucking glass tank. Submerged. Without even a tube to pump oxygen into his lungs. 

Oh god. He was going to die. He was going to turn into this creep's experiment - hell, he was already half way there! And on the topic of the creep, who the fuck wears a cracked skeleton mask!? The person definitely has a few screws lose! 

Whilst he was busy having a mental breakdown the size of Jupiter, the creepy mad scientist had moved away to press a red button. It caused alarms to chime and the water in his tank to drain. He felt fear run through his veins and he brought up his hands to bang on the glass but stopped halfway. His movements had all but halted at the sight of two small skeletal hands. As in, made entirely out of bones, sans skin, muscles, and all other parts required for a human to, you know, _move_. He would've screamed some more if not for the abrupt gravitational pull. 

He heard a sickening crack when he landed on the back of his head first, and his vision darkened momentarily. 

A curious memory flashed unexpectedly in the front of his mind. A memory of him tiredly walking back home. He had been so dead on his feet that he didn't notice a banana peel mocking him from its place on the sidewalk. It had led to him falling backwards, cracking the back of his skull and causing him to instantly collapse. 

He numbly figured that he had died since he knew that head injuries were serious and the shortcut he took to go home had always been deserted. He probably bled to death or something along those lines. 

With a groan of despair, he mentally cursed those litter bugs to the depths of hell. If only he had the power to look into the future. It would've at least saved him from his pathetic demise.

As he slowly felt his conscious leaving him, the last thing he registered were hurried hands lifting him up... and another resounding crack when said hands disappeared and he met the floor again. 


	2. One does not simply wake up in a video game. ＼(º □ º l|l)/

What was the saying again? That life was a grueling and unfair game? Along those lines, anyway. But yes, the fates are definitely screwing with him. He was literally in a fucking video game. Not the afterlife, but a video game. Undertale, to be more precise. But who the fuck cares about which game. He was in a fucking video game!

Who the hell wakes up inside a video game!? His life wasn't an anime, thank you very much!

The person who he thought had been wearing a skeletal mask? A real skeleton Monster going by the name of W. D. fucking Gaster. 

Yep. You heard right, folks. The creep was actually Dr. Gaster. And yes, he was talking to his own mind and imaginative audience of his 'story' to escape reality at the moment. Other than the unbelievable fact of him having been reincarnated into a Monster in a VIDEO GAME (ok he really needed to let that go), he had just been named, and he almost murdered the Royal Scientist there and then. Rather than just accepting his name, he shut down. The silver lining was that at least he did not accidentally replace Papyrus or Sans... If they were related to Gaster anyway.

The scientist was currently flapping his bony arms everywhere as the Monster tried, and failed, to get him to respond. He wasn't willing. More so after being given such a crappy name by his... father? Creator? He wasn't sure, but judging from where he woke up, he could only assume that he was made by Gaster.

Was he the definition of a test tube baby? He didn't know and he didn't care to find out. He just didn't want to accept the fact that he had died and was shoved into a VIDEO GAME. He had studied so hard to get into his dream job, and after finally attaining said dream job, had died. All because of some fucker who had no decency to throw away their banana peel into a rubbish bin.

If he were back in his own world and residing in the afterlife, he would've crawled back into the land of the living just so he could haunt and torment that mother fucker to death. Please don't say that he was being an arsehole. If you had died in such a pathetic and humiliating manner, would you not want to plague the bastard as well, bruh?

He was pulled out of his murderous thoughts when he felt himself be lifted from the (uncomfortable) metal table he had been silently lying on. He turned to look at the skeleton wearing a turtleneck underneath a standard scientist coat, his face... skull(?) showing no emotion (or just the sucked at reading skeleton expressions). The Royal Scientist sighed audibly and was currently cradling him tenderly, as if afraid that he would turn to dust at any moment.

That brought back the unpleasant memory of how he cracked his skull not a minute into his new life. How could such a genius be so... clumsy!? The damn skeleton Monster had dropped him. Fucking dropped him from such a height, enough to crack his skull open!

It was a miracle he hadn't been dusted by that.

With that at the front of his mind, his fingers... phalanges tightened onto the older Monster's coat, wary that he would be dropped by the older skeleton a third time in a day. 

The way back to Gaster's home was pretty quiet, what with them traveling via Riverperson express. Oh, except when the Dr constantly tripped over his untied shoelace every few minutes. It made him seriously fear for his life. Much to his immense relief, they both made it to Snowdin in one piece.

He looked at the modest sized wooden cottage that had entered his sights, the Christmas lights already decorated just like in the game. It was sad to say that Tobi did not go much into the backstories of all the characters pre-canon, so he was pretty much going in blind. Hell, there were a shit ton of fan theories floating around the trashy Undertale community, but none of them he could confirm were real except maybe for "Gaster is the skelebro's father" theory.

The door suddenly slammed opened the moment Gaster had been near it (almost hitting his skull, which would've been funny), revealing an angry looking... short and stout skeleton in their sleeping wear. The appearance of Sans made it awkward to him.

He didn't want to admit it, seeing that he had been a grown man in his late-twenties, but he has a major cyber crush on Sans the skeleton ever since he started playing Undertale. Who wouldn't love the punny character who was constantly around to bring comic relief? He had drawn (ugly) NSFW fanart, wrote smutty fanfics, and of course, browsed through Tumblr to engrossed himself in the trashy world of the Undertale community. Error!Sans was his all time favorite, but hey, they were only fan creations and probably not even worth mentioning now. They weren't real.

... Right, bruh?

Anyway, back to the topic, he hadn't exactly forgotten about Sans. Oh hell no. He had actually been avoiding any mental thoughts regarding said skeleton... and the future resets. Now, though, he grudgingly admitted that he still felt a little something for Sans, who was now his brother(?).

As he had previously stated. Awkward.

* you're late.

Those words that were filled with disapproval brought him back to reality and he shifted in Gaster's hold, wanting to get a closer look at smol Sans, his curiosity, and inner fanboy getting the better of him. The movement was probably caught by Sans since he turned to look at him.

They both entered an impromptu staring contest, and he idly wondered if this would last for eternity since neither of them really needed to blink. Since, you know, they had no eyes or eyelids, to begin with.

It was after Gaster cleared his throat (he doesn't even have a throat!) that Sans broke the eye...socket staring contest with him.

* dings?

He was moved so that the scientist was able to properly hold him with one arm. Gaster used his free hand to sign a reply to Sans, which completely flew over his head. ASL or whatever sign language Gaster was making were alien to him.

Sans blew out a puff of air full of his exasperation and crossed his arms over his ribcage. Even with the short skeleton's permanent grin, it was easy to tell that he was unimpressed by whatever Gaster had signed. Maybe, anyway. He wasn't a pro at reading a skeleton's expression.

It was another few moments of the elder skeleton signing non-stop did he finally grew bored and looked away from the pair. He should probably think of a new name whilst they were busy. He could use his old one, but -

He suddenly squeaked in fright when he was unexpectedly covered in a bluish glow and was floated downwards into a pair of smaller, yet equally bony pair of arms. 

Phalanges were then gently running across the back of his skull, and his eye sockets fluttered (how?) at the tranquilness he was feeling. It felt so good to be caressed by your crush... NO! He should not be enjoying such a thing! In fact, he should be stopping this.

As if reading his mind, the phalanges halted their movements. It caused him to unknowingly let out a small whine, which made the phalanges continue their heavenly touch yet again. He sighed in utter bliss and immediately wanted to facepalm at how gross he was acting.

Sans let out a hum as he tightened his hold on him. With his eye sockets drooping with exhaustion, he entered Morpheus' embrace, finding this to be much more comforting and safe than within Gaster's gentle, yet far too clumsy hold.

* * *

**EXTRA:** _Sans' POV_

Sans felt that his grumpy mood was wholly justified as he slumped into his seat on the lumpy couch. Dings was late. Again.

It was frustrating at times with a workaholic for a dad. Sure, he understood that Dings has many important projects he needed to complete for the King and for the good all of Monsterkind, but the older skeleton had promised that he would be home before dinner time at weekends.

Sans wasn't a demanding kid. If anything, he was far from it. He had always been a very independent child who prefers taking care of his little brother, Papyrus, rather than play with other ten-year-olds who were far too childish for his liking. The thought of Papyrus caused Sans' mood to brightened. If it was something concerning Dings he was grateful for, it was that the man had brought Papyrus home with him.

Sans had only demanded of one thing from Dings, and that was to come home early to have dinner with his two children every weekend. It was all for Papyrus if he were honest, but even Sans himself felt content when he sees his little family laughing together, and generally just enjoying their time spent together.

Speaking of Dings, that must be him.

He hopped off the couch and impatiently took a shortcut so that he could be the one to slam open the door - hopefully into Dings' unsuspecting skull.

* you're late. 

He stated with as much displeasure as he could muster with his short stature and high-pitched voice whilst crossing his arms over his ribcage.

That was when his eye lights caught the bundle in Dings' arms. The little thing, a babybones that looked very much like a chubbier, yet smaller version of Papyrus and him combined, was staring directly at Sans.

Sans himself was shocked into silence as he gawked at the babybones. If his jawbones weren't fused together, he could guarantee that his mandible would have been touching the ground by now. When his dad cleared his throat only did Sans look away.

* dings?

His dad transferred the bundle (rather awkwardly and dangerously, which made Sans cringe) so that he was holding them in one arm. He then sheepishly signed (a _sign,_ heh _,_ that he was far too nervous to talk) that he had accidently made them a few months back and just didn't have the soul to dispose of them.

* gee, dings. _throw me a bone_ next time you decided to bring home another kid.

As he joked, he still made sure that his tone was _dead_ _serious_ to show his displeasure at how irresponsible Dings had been.

They had no extra room nor crib for the little one since Papyrus' old one had been given away in favor of a new bed. If Sans had been informed beforehand, he would've had months of preparation time to welcome his newest sibling into their family.

He just knew that his expression has changed into one of petulant annoyance when Dings tried to explain that he was busy and all that. Etc etc. He sometimes wondered if he was the adult in their relationship at times like this.

It was at this moment of time when his newest sibling turned to look at another thing that might have caught their attention did Sans notice the crack on the back of the babybones' skull.

The eye lights within his eye sockets disappeared completely and he immediately floated his sibling, who had squeaked in surprise (at least they didn't cry), into his arms. He then lightly touched the back of the small skeleton's skull, cautious to not accidentally hurt the little one in the process.

From the corner of his eye sockets, he saw Dings fidgeting nervously with beads of sweat slowly rolling down his skull. It looks like he has found the culprit. He whipped his skull towards Dings and gave his best 'explain-now-or-you-will-be-in-so-much-trouble-young-man' glare.

A childish whine left his little sibling (he should really get their name and gender from Dings soon) when his phalanges stopped their exploration and he immediately resumed caressing the tiny, and fragile skull, causing the little one to nuzzle against his digits and soon, fell asleep. He could already tell that he would be spoiling this little one as much as he spoiled Papyrus. Heck, even Papyrus would want to spoil their newest sibling. His energetic little brother had always wanted to be a big bro.

As much as he would like to coo at this tiny creature for their cuteness, he turned back to Dings, who had been slowly sneaking away. With a flick of his carpals, he floated Dings and dropped the scientist onto their couch, all the whilst rocking the babybones with expertise. He kicked the door close and stood in front of his dad, looking very much unimpressed.

Dings was the first to look away guiltily as he silently glared the older skeleton into explaining why there was a massive crack on the back of their newest family member's skull. 

After the Royal Scientist had finished with his explanation, Sans had to resist the urge to pinch his nasal bone as he palmed his face in exasperation, expertly holding the babybones with one arm.

When he finally looked at Dings, a lecture of workfare safety and proper childcare had already escaped through his teeth. He heard a distressed noise coming from the older skeleton, but he ignored it in favor of subtly insulting the man's intellect throughout the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does it look weird if I make Sans' dialogues (comic sans) like that?   
> Should I change it and use normal "speech" ?   
> Please tell me your thoughts.


	3. Do not call him by that name! (╯°益°)╯彡┻━┻  *IMPACT

When he woke up, this time, around, it was to him being cuddled by Sans. If this body of his had been older, he was sure he would have some kind of rated M reaction to this situation, bruh. But since his new skeletal body was maybe just a day old, he could only lay there and stare at the bigger skeleton, entranced by how peaceful and young Sans looked in his sleep. And a little more fascinated at seeing a skeleton fucking snore.

He could get used to waking up like this, he thought, contented.

It was at this moment of time that the world decided that he was far too comfortable for his own good. The bedroom's door flew open with a bang, shattering what little peace he was in, and jolting Sans awake.

The hoodie lover released him, much to his displeasure, in favor of catching a flying tiny skeleton wearing an all red PJs that had cute little cartoon bones sewed on it. 

"BROTHER! IT IS TIME FOR THE MOST IM... IMPO.. IMPOTENT MEAL OF THE DAY, BREAKFAST."

His irritation was easily replaced by hilarity. _Impotent_. Oh my god, bruh.

* important, bro.

Sans hurriedly corrected with a... was that a sweatdrop? Yes, yes it was. Papyrus was then attacked by tickles and the five(?) year old giggled gleefully, trying and utterly failing to protect his sides from the grinning older skeleton. 

The two were really cute and happy together, and he wondered not for the first time why he was even here.

From what he knew, there had only been two skeletons when he played the game. So was he an extra? An anomaly? An error? A bug? Some random background character? A Monster who died before Frisk came to the Underground? Someone who was erased from existence because he fell into the core alongside with Gaster? A failed experiment that was meant to be disposed of in the future?

So many questions, yet nobody to tell him the answers.

He was thankfully pulled out of his pessimistic thoughts when he was gently picked up by the eldest of the three brothers. He could see that Papyrus was beyond curious about who he was, but Sans, even as a child, was someone great at distractions.

A few puns later and Papyrus had all but ran out of the bedroom with a cry of "my morning is ruined!!!"

The two (one actually since he was still being carried by Sans) then made their way downstairs and into the kitchen, where Gaster was already seated with a newspaper being held in front of him, and Papyrus munching away at a piece of toast to Gaster's left.

* morns.

Sans greeted his father as he sat himself down, opposite to Papyrus, and shifted the bundle in his arms so he could comfortably eat his breakfast.

Gaster waved lazily in response and continued to read the day's paper. It was kind of curious. Did the Underground have a paper company to even subscribe to? Well, since Gaster was reading one, the answer should be obvious. But still, he wished his body was stronger and bigger so he could explore the whole place. The game was pretty limited when compared to real life, and after all, he had always craved information.  

The table was silent, but not an uncomfortable one, with only the sounds of toast being eaten and papers, turning. When Sans finished his meal, he got up and took an empty baby bottle.

The ten-year-old did not fill it with milk but placed the empty bottle on the table in front of an oblivious Gaster. When was he getting his breakfast? He was beyond hungry.

* hey, dings. have you eaten _a matter son_ before?

Gaster peeked out from the top of his paper with a skeleton equivalent of a raised brow. He couldn't blame the skeleton. If an infant could raise their brow, he would be raising his too. What the hell was a matterson?

"What's a matter son?"

It took him a few seconds to register that the soft and raspy voice had come from Gaster. It startled the shit out of him, to be honest. Gaster was able to communicate via speech!? Then why did the scientist not speak the whole time yesterday?! This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, bruh! He was super confused.

* the bottle needs to be filled up. that's the matter.

Everyone stared with various degrees of confusion before suddenly, it seemed to click for the two other skeletons. Before they could react, however, Sans continued.

*why so flabber _gaster_ ed?

Papyrus immediately hopped out of his chair and began to screech out in apparent agony whilst the oldest skeleton could be seen facepalming. 

He couldn't help it, he burst out laughing (giggling) when the two puns finally registered. Oh god. That was hilarious!

* would you look at that. at least someone in this family found that _humerus_.

"Sans no."

* sans yes.

"BROTHER NO!!!"

* oh gee. i _no_ when i'm outnumbered.

"NYEH!!! DAD MAKE SANS STOP."

"I'm afraid that that's an impossible task even for me, Papyrus. On the other hand, let me introduce you to your new little brother,"  Gaster placed his newspaper down and gestured towards said new little brother, who was busy glaring at the scientist due to hunger... and because he knew that Gaster would be saying his dreaded name soon.

"LITTLE BROTHER...?"

"Papyrus, Sans, meet your new little brother -"

BRUH STOOOOOOP!

"Impact."

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO -

* * *

"Look here boys."

One of his eye sockets twitched uncontrollably with irritation as he stared moodily into the (ancient as fuck) camera Gaster was holding. The three brothers were on the couch, with Sans and Papyrus sitting side by side, and him currently in Papyrus' lap, the skeleton smiling widely with literal stars in his eye sockets.

"Say 'Impact!'"

Another twitch. Gaster's dead to him.

"IMPACT!" * impact!

STOP. SAYING. THAT. NAME. BRUHS!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those of you who are wondering why Gaster's speech font isn't in wingdings or why it's so small... I personally imagine Gaster as a soft-spoken bloke that's just too good for this world. Oh, and I couldn't find any codes for wingdings or symbols or whatever. 
> 
> I thank those of you who gave me positive feedbacks about my fic, as well as those who gave me kudos. It fills this author with DETERMINATION! ╰(▔∀▔)╯
> 
> P.S. Thank you YvShan for your fanart. I appreciate it (⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)


	4. No wonder their furs are so puffy. They're fluffed with bullshit! ୧((#Φ益Φ#))୨

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Park (playground) Debut: It is when one first joins the community of children and their parents (brothers) at the park (playground). Screw it up... and you'll never live it down.  
> -Beelzebub Anime.
> 
> It's also oddly accurate... For the other party, that is. ╰( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )つ︻┻┳══━一  
> STOP GOSSIPING!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter warning(s): Gossips, mentions of suicide, and other things that may cause a trigger... I think.

Embracing the fact that he had been reincarnated - if this could be called that - into the world of Undertale had been overwhelmingly difficult. It was a grueling process of nightly crying and abrupt shouting matches with himself before he could come to accept the fact that yes, he was in a video game and he should really get over it. In his self-appointed task of trying to find his way through the layers of doubt, he had developed a case of existential crisis over the past few weeks along the way (or was it months? was time even constant here? when will the resets start? _was this even real_? was he not him?), and even sometimes thought that he heard a voice in his head mocking him that him being here has no purpose whatsoever. That he was just a side-character in a game, and with a swipe of a finger, could be deleted on a whim because he _served no purpose._

The details aren't something he wished to bring up at the moment (it was still too fresh), so for the bright side of things, he had also found an anchor. His anchor to this reality had been right in front of him all along - he was just blinded by denial. 

It was his family. If it were not for them, he would've probably starved himself and if he had been older in body, killed himself.

His father, Gaster, had been coming back home earlier to check on him. His middle brother, Papyrus, would remain quiet and cuddle with him when he felt like everything has no purpose whatsoever, just giving him silent encouragements by just being there. His eldest brother and secret crush, Sans, would do some wicked cool skeleton humming (it sounded like someone making music with a recorder) to calm his nerves and was patient enough to deal with him even though any other ten-year-old would've thrown a huge tantrum.

The three elder skeletons had shown him that he was wanted. That he was real. That he has value. And for that, he swore to himself that he would protect them. He would push all his doubts concerning himself away in favor of keeping them safe. Methods be damned. He owed them that much of his gratitude. 

But enough of angsting around. It has been months, and though he was still unable to talk, he had begun to call himself Bones within the prison he called his mind. The moment he was able to, however, he would be demanding that everyone call him by his ~~uncreative~~ awesome nickname. 

Within the short span of his time here, he had come to genuine love his new family. And yes, this included even the ever clumsy doctor. The doc wasn't an evil mad scientist like what many fans had thought. In fact, he was very kind and loving - a Dadster. He could never be called the best father, but he was trying his hardest, which to Bones, was admirable. The only problem Bones has with the kind doctor was his daily almost accidental kills. Oh, and bad naming sense. Must not forget that one. 

The scientist was also, often than not, absent. If Bones had been an ignorant person with no prior knowledge about Undertale, he would've just ticked Gaster off as a workaholic who doesn't care about his family. But because he knew exactly what was going on, he understood that Gaster was a very busy Monster with too many responsibilities riding on his shoulders. 

It was wholly unintentional on his part when Gaster neglected not only his sons but also his own health. If not for Sans, who constantly mothers Gaster, the man would've probably Fallen by now due to how bone-tired he was (and yes, Sans has slowly been influencing him as well). Hell, the skeleton lived off of coffee most of the time when Sans wasn't on his case. Bones was a continual witness of Sans' daily calls to Gaster during lunch breaks to check if the scientist had eaten or not. 

Other Monsters do not understand their family dynamics at all, however. Just this morning, when Sans had (finally) brought him along with Papyrus to buy groceries since they had run out, Bones had heard all the unpleasant whispers surrounding his family. Especially from the rabbit Monsters. They were the main gossipers, as well as the ones who would always come up to strike a "friendly" conversation just to get more juicy details to bend and spread. 

Papyrus had seemed oblivious to it all, chattering a mile a minute about everything under the artificial sun (which, by the way, was created by Gaster). The eldest brother, on the other hand, kept his words to a minimum, all the while keeping a tight grip on Papyrus' hand. Sans had been wary of others coming up to them for a 'friendly' chat but did not dissuade Papyrus from conversing cheerfully with the townspeople... townsmonsters. Bones respected that part of Sans - to not want his (justified) paranoia to restrict Papyrus from being the social butterfly that he was (Bones would've done the opposite). It was not as if this was Underfell, anyway. These Monsters were nosy, yeah, but at least they didn't kill to raise their LV. 

But on the topic of rumors, they were comprised of the three skelebros being abused, neglected, forced into labor, and all other stupid things that made absolutely no sense whatsoever - it was no wonder that all of his onesies have hoods to cover his crack on his occipital skull. Bones had never in all of his life wanted to shove a fork into someone (the fucking rabbit shopkeeper) so damn badly before. 

After they had returned home, Sans had let Papyrus hold Bones whilst the eldest put away all the groceries and prepared a quick snack bag as well as a baby bag. The first time Bones had witnessed Sans doing all of the domestic chores and cooking (with Papyrus helping), he had almost had a seizure. Who knew that the future lazybones was a fucking housewife during his childhood? 

It had made Bones' crush escalate to newer levels (not platonic at all), much to his own disgust. And here he thought that his liking for Sans was a passing thing. 

As soon as Sans was ready, the stout skeleton made sure that Papyrus and Bones were warm enough (even though they had no skin...?) before they all head out. He had been transferred into Sans' arms as Papyrus ran ahead, shouting his greetings to the other Monster children there. Bones honestly did not know that there was a playground in Snowdin. 

Why hadn't this been inside the game? 

Oh, right. Limited walking areas. Gotcha, brain bruh. 

The other children waved happily at the excited young skeleton as they all started playing tag. Papyrus seemed to be having a blast, and that was enough to make both Bones and Sans happy. 

After a second look at the children, however, Bones' happiness dimmed a little. They looked like they genuinely wanted to have a great time with Papyrus, but were being held back by something... or someones. 

One glance at the parents sitting on the benches near the children told Bones that they were the cause behind why Papyrus had not a single friend - merely playmates. The parents had probably tolerated the young skeletons' presence because he provided the children an opportunity to play more games that required more Monsters. 

It sickened Bones to his core. He was lucky that Gaster wasn't one for judging someone without getting to truly know them first. Bones promised himself that he would give Gaster a #1 Dad mug in the future, regardless of how the other townsmonsters viewed him. 

They all didn't know how important Gaster was since Gaster preferred to keep his identity as the Royal Scientist a secret because he did not want to be bombarded. How fucking ignorant of them. Gaster sacrificed so much of his time and health for them to live such carefree lives in the Underground. And this was how they were repaying him. By spreading fucked up rumours that even Gaster himself was unaware of. 

Now with Bones here, there were bound to be more rumours about how Gaster was fucking around or something along those lines. 

As Sans sat down on an empty bench near the playground, with the bags he carried by his side, Bones was shifted to one arm so that Sans was able to rummage the baby bag for a baby bottle. 

Almost immediately, Bones felt hungry and made grabbing motions towards the bottle. Sue him for acting like an impatient infant, but this body seriously needed a shit ton of calcium and magic, bruh. He was almost constantly hungry thanks to that, and if skeletons could grow fat, he would be the definition of an obese baby. His eldest brother chuckled at his behaviour, but obeyed regardless and helped Bones by holding the bottle to him. 

The liquid inside of the baby bottle was purple, by the way. The color had first dissuaded him from drinking it, but after refusing to be fed for hours, he couldn't stand the hunger any longer and just allowed the two worried skeletons to pry his teeth apart and shove the sucker into his mouth. The taste wasn't that bad per se, but not something he would call delicious as well. It was decent enough for him to continue drinking it, though. Kind of tasted like grape flavored water. Not grape juice. But grape _flavored_ water.

At first, Bones had been curious as to why Sans did not just prepare milk for him - since Sans already cooks for the whole family anyway - and constantly asked for Gaster to prepare the bottle. But after witnessing Gaster pouring his own Magic into the bottle, he understood. Well, not everything, obviously, since why would anybody bother to explain what the fuck they were doing to an infant? 

He assumed that since skeleton Monsters have no organs, they would need 100% magical food during their infant years. When they get older, they would be able to eat Monster food - which was made from magical ingredients but were not 100% magic - by creating a temporary stomach... maybe. His theory has a lot of holes, but he won't be able to fill or correct them anytime soon. He would get back to understanding the reasoning behind having to drink his father's magic when he got older. 

But for now... Ah, sitting on the person his likes' lap whilst being hand fed? Heaven. 

"...es! I've heard... from Rabby. The... Gaster right... He... another child! And he's not... care of it... irresponsible."

"I know right? For... reason, the baby... is being taken... the eldest."

"My... The eldest is only 10... what I've heard from... They're in... class, you know? I hope he's not... a bad influence on my... skips school..."

"Really? It's... skipping school. He's taking care... Why... their 10 year... care for a newborn? That's... neglect, and not to mention, abuse! .... even taking his brother.... is wrong." 

"Parents these... not have children if they... take care of them."

"...not ... seen a woman... before. Do you reckon... born out of the wedlock?" 

And there went his blissful moment of happiness. Thank you, you goddamn gossiping rabbits, for ruining this peaceful _date_ he had going on with Sans. Bones could feel Sans shaking, whether from humiliation or rage he didn't know, but what he did know was that Sans heard what those ladies were speaking as much as he did - or more. There was this awesome little trick that he had yet to master, but to put it simply, by allowing his bones to be hollowed out, he would be able to hear clearer. Makes no sense, to be honest, but he figured that questioning all things concerning magic was a waste of time. 

Oh, look. He derailed from the original topic again. Seriously. He should stop getting distracted.

How could these fucked up rabbits just spread those kinds of rumors around? Near children, no less. Not to mention how inaccurate they were. Except for the Sans taking care of Papyrus and Bones part. And the part of Sans being excused from school. Not skipping, but excused! At least the teacher understood the reasonings behind why Sans always asked for at least three days offs in a week. Sans was a genius, anyway, so the teacher wasn't at all worried about Sans' grade dropping - it never did when Sans was solely focused on taking care of a younger Papyrus anyway. 

When the two ladies finally took notice of Sans, the person who they had only one second ago been badmouthing, was sitting just two benches away from them, they lowered their voice immediately, and even had the audacity to smile at the two skelebros! The nerve! 

He bit the sucker of his baby bottle with as much force as he could muster and angrily glared at the two rabbit Monsters. They seemed to look away immediately, which was satisfying. Maybe he was a terrifying baby to look at? Hell yeah, bruh! 

After he had finished his 'milk' (he didn't want to call it Gaster's juice because that sounded so bloody wrong), Sans expertly burped him (still wondering why) and smiled at him. It made his heart(?) speed up and he grinned at the bigger skeleton, his mood lightening at the sight of how caring Sans was being. 

Papyrus came soon after, running back to them and loudly proclaiming that he was hungry. It was cute that the little skeleton had even made a heroic pose when declaring that. 

As Sans was busy with rummaging his bag for a bottle of hand sanitizer and wet wipes to clean Papyrus' phalanges, Bones memorized the two rabbit Monsters' faces and added them to his ever-growing list of Monsters-that-needed-to-learn-why-they-should-not-mess-with-the-skele-family.

Internally insert an adult (human) version of him cackling loudly whilst rubbing his metacarpals evily here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your support and positive comments! It fills this author with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯
> 
> P.s. I couldn't think of a good nickname for Impact, so I had to go for Bones... (oT-T)尸


	5. It's true... They're squishable! (((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please read the note below afterwards. It's EXTREMELY important! Now, without further ado, carry on with the (absolutely horrid) chapter!

"WE'RE HOME, BROTHERS."

Papyrus's voice was heard as soon as the door slammed opened, the smol and energetic skeleton rushing inside with Gaster trailing behind at a more sedated pace. Papyrus's beaming smile was contagious as Sans and Bones grinned back from their seats on the couch and lap respectively. 

* welcome back bro, dings. how was school and work?

"IT WAS GREAT, BROTHER. I DREW OUR FAMILY'S POR... PORTET? DAD?"

"Portrait. It's certainly well drawn for someone your age. And work went well, Sans. I did manage to come back home early."

"OF COURSE! IT IS DREW... DRAWN BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AFTER ALL!" 

* heh. of course bro. you're drawing's are always the coolest. and thanks for picking paps up on your way back home, dings. i was a little preoccupied with impact here not wanting to drink - 

Bones was quick to turn away and babble nonsense as he tried to wiggle out of the stout skeleton's lap. This immediately caused Sans to cut off his own words in favor of groaning miserably as he tightened his hold on his youngest and most troublesome brother. 

The reason why Bones was being difficult and trying to escape when he would usually cling onto his crush like a bloody leech, was because he did not want to drink his current 'milk'. He did not mind drinking Gaster's liquid magic, but he drew the line when presented with Sans's. The glowing blue liquid reminded him of the many fan arts he drew of Sans's semen, to put it bluntly. So no. He would not be drinking Sans's liquid magic out of a bottle even if it kills him. Maybe when he was older and would be directly from- ok stop right there, Bones. 

Papyrus was, just as suddenly as he popped in front of them, now carried away by Gaster and being deposited onto the adult's hip, who shrugged off Sans's unspoken words of gratitude. 

* i don't know why he's being fussy about this, dings.

Sans sighed tiredly as he dropped the bottle in favor of running a hand over his skull, his actions resembling someone much older than his physical age - although skeleton Monsters were hard enough to distinguish between a young one and an old one to the untrained eye.

Bones felt a little bit guilty for making it so difficult for Sans, but he would not be drinking that. Just... No. In one of his more traitorous parts of his mind, an adult voice wondered if it would taste anything like salted blueberries or marshmallows. The voice was quick to be trampled and squashed down. 

"Perhaps he's unfamiliar with your magic in liquid form? Give him some time. He did literally starve himself dry the first time we introduced him to mine." 

* ... gee. what a troublesome little thing you are, impact. big brother's pretty confused as to what to do now.

"For now, we can continue to feed him mine with no problem."

* no, dings. obviously, there's s problem right there. you do know that you're always _tired to the bone_ now because you didn't give yourself time for your magic to replenish itself, right? 

Seriously? Bones tightened his phalanges on Sans' hoodie, feeling ashamed of himself, knowing that he had been acting quite selfish since Sans's had introduced the new 'milk' to him a few hours ago. He had, in fact, noticed that Gaster had looked more and more haggard as weeks passed by, but he had shrugged it off thinking that it was due to Gaster being overworked. 

Now that he truly thought about it, he was fed far more regularly than any ordinary human babies were. That must not be healthy for Gaster. It was no wonder that the mother hen of this family had put down his feet and tried to make Bones drink Sans's liquified magic rather than their father's. 

"How about a nice warm bath? Maybe Impact will be hungry after that. And would you mind bringing Papyrus along, Sans? He has crayon stains all over his phalanges... and teeth."

Sans did not need to think twice about that idea and immediately agreed - probably needing to relax his bones. The family drawing made by Papyrus was soon taped to the fridge before the three brothers made their way to the mostly unused bathroom. 

To be honest, Bones had thought that the bathroom was for all purposes, a decoration. Their bones, from what he had discovered, were clean most of the time, as dirt and snow could just be dusted off of them. 

The only time their bones made contact with water was before and after meal times as well as brushing their teeth. It sounded highly unhygienic, but Monsters were made vastly different to humans. You just can't compare a skeleton Monster with a human's skeleton, bruh. He had already learnt not to simply assume things based off of his previous life's knowledge. 

As soon as they entered the bathroom, Papyrus quickly prepared the bath. It was big enough to fit two adult humans, so three smol skeletons had more than enough room. 

It just came to Bones's notice that this would be the first time he would see Sans bare (omigewdnessnakedomg!). The idea and image excited him more than he would like to admit it. Luckily, or maybe unluckily, he was still a bloody babybones. 

Just as Papyrus stripped and entered the bath with a gleeful shout, Sans began to help Bones out of his purple colored onesie with cartoon bones sewed on it. He idly wondered if it was common to have bone themed things in a skeleton's home.

The second he was bared, he felt this strong urge to cover himself even though there was literally nothing down there to cover (how do you distinguish a female from a male skeleton?). He was handed over to Papyrus, and he gripped the older in body skeleton's clavicle tightly, more than a little afraid that he would be dropped because, duh, bubble baths were pretty slippery. The water was pretty warm, and he marveled at the fact that he could still feel it, but not in the same way as he did when he had been human. 

When he heard clothes being dropped to the floor, he immediately turned to shamelessly ogle his eldest brother, who was making his way over, bare bones. Oh god. He was fucking fangirling over a ten-year-old skeleton. What the fucking hell was wrong with him!? He was seriously turning into a pedo, bruh. An incestuous, necrophilic, gay paedophile. An INGP. He was worst than trash. What was the purpose of his life, other than being a disgusting chewed up bubblegum on the soles of a beggar's shoe? 

As the two brothers made themselves comfortable, he was transferred back into Sans's arms as Papyrus decided that he wanted to play with rubber duckies. He decided that it was time to stow away his bad thoughts for now and enjoy his time together with his two loving 'elder' brothers. He had decades of experience with pushing his problems aside. A few more won't hurt... right? 

He decided that he should join Papyrus in his game, and don't judge him, but it was pretty fun. Especially when Papyrus kept on making cute high pitched voices for each rubber duckie he was holding. The names the smol skeleton had chosen for each duckie weren't too bad as well (pretty hilarious). Much better than Gaster's sense of naming, anyway. 

A mischevious idea suddenly rushed to the forefront of his mind, and he immediately set to act it out. He dropped the duckies he had been playing with in favor of flapping wildly around, splashing water everywhere and causing him to almost be dropped. 

His risky planned worked wonderfully when Sans instantly turned him around so that he was able to wrap his phalanges around his eldest brother's clavicle/upper ribs, whilst Sans was now able to properly support him better. 

He got the stink eye for his effort, but Bones played it cool by smiling and giggling innocently. Again, he had, give or take, 20 years of experience with acting. The moment Sans rolled those eye lights of his in apparent fondness, Bones took the chance to place Sans's cheeks between his metacarpals. 

* impact?

_Grab. Pull._

* s-schap zhat -

_Push. Squish._

* Impact lesh go.

"NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH! WHAT FUNNY FACES YOU MAKE, BIG BROTHER!" 

His curiosity has finally been sated. Sans' facial bones felt similar to the smooth texture of a porcelain doll but moldable like semi-hard clay. In other words; perfect to play with. 

Best day ever, bruh!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter will be a long one. I can't stand writing childhood arc chapters anymore because to be perfectly honest, I doubt it would be interesting (and I just don't want to write childhood arc). The only reason I've been writing it as separate chapters is because of the title and emojis. I'm kinda weird like that. Ahem! I'll be summing up all of Bones's childhood in one massive chapter so I can finally start introducing Frisk into the Underground Arc, and then the real plot of Post-Pacifist will begin. Ah, I can't wait to upload torture scenes. Just have to finish the childhood arc first...
> 
> This chapter is very much a filler, and the sole purpose of said chapter is this extremely short A/N. I dislike it when others post an A/N as a chapter, so I won't be a hypocrite to do just that (even though I did it when I was younger. How disgusting of younger-me!)
> 
> Thank you all for your support! It fills this author with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯
> 
> P.S. I'm beginning to regret customizing their speeches.


	6. Time sure flies when you're having fun ┐(￣∀￣)┌

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm a person who hates fillers. So I now present to you... A childhood arc that's compacted to one chapter! Enjoy!  
> In the next chapter, the plot shall begin, my dear readers.  
> Thank you for being patient with me!

**Title: Santa? ┐(￣ヘ￣;)**  
**Age: 11 months old**

* * *

The sound of Gaster making a mess of the living room was pretty much the only telltale sign that there was another living being in the house apart from Sans and Bones. Papyrus was out, building snowmen at the front of their house. And yes, the six-year-old was allowed to play outdoors anytime he wanted, with the promise that he would text Sans every half an hour so that their eldest brother wouldn't worry.

* stop making a mess when I only just finished cleaning up yesterday.

Sans allowed his voice to rise from their usual drawl so that he could be heard from the kitchen as he flipped a perfectly made omurice onto a plate next to his (and yes, that's Sans's personal item) frying pan. The stout skeleton then proceeded to draw a cute cartoonish doodle of Gaster's skull with a ketchup bottle.

"I'll clean up afterwards."

* cleaning up doesn't mean putting your shit in less obvious places, dings! and come eat breakfast, yours is ready.

"Then do you know where I last placed my heat gun?"

* It's underneath the couch pillows - which, by the way, you numbskull, is a really stupid place to leave a portable heat gun on.

"Thanks."

Gaster thanked half-heartedly before disappearing back into his room, either not hearing or just not caring about the reprimand. It was probably the latter.

* your breakfast, dings!

Sans puffed out his cheekbones when Gaster didn't respond, almost making Bones die from overcuteness.

Sans returned back to cooking breakfast, not wanting his inattentiveness to burn another batch of omurice. Everything was peaceful, and Bones idly played with the fluff lining his brother's hood, a little bored of not being able to walk on his own just yet.

Bones would've been ecstatic that he was allowed to stick this close to Sans, but watching the eleven-year-old cook breakfast was as fun as watching grass to grow. He wasn't interested in cooking, and even if he was, he was still unable to eat solid foods even though he was past the six-month mark.

Don't ask Bones why. He just summed it up as Monster Skeletons' (stupid) logic of being able to talk before being able to walk and eat solid food.

The omurice smelt so good... Bones drooled, and as his non-existent stomach grumbled, he proceeded to pat (whack) the back of Sans' skull to gain the cook's attention - which was dangerous as hell, but Sans was already used to it by now.

* hungry, babybones?

"Yuh, bwuh!"

* give me a moment.

A moment later and Bones was holding a warm bottle of Sans juice, fresh out of Sans. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

As he sucked on his bottle, he heard the front door opening, followed by the pitter patter of tiny feet rushing towards the kitchen. Papyrus appeared, the little skeleton bouncing excitedly to the sink, and then to his seat as Sans finished the last line of doodling a Papyrus skull on the omurice.

Impeccable timing as always, Papy.

* can you call dings down for me, paps?

"OKAY, BIG BROTHER. THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ON IT."

* thanks, bro. you're the best.

"NYEH HEH HEH HEH!!!"

The bumbling ball of energy hopped out of his seat and rushed upstairs, his face flushed orange at the praise. Immediately afterwards, there was a loud bang, followed by a few muffled words that sounded like cussing.

Bones hid a giggle as Sans' expression darkened.

"SANS? WHAT IS A STAR FUCKEN DAMIT?"

Papyrus questioned instantly as he appeared with Gaster trailing after him. The latter looked like death itself has come to take his soul.

* ... a pun.

"WHAT!? DAD, HOW COULD YOU?!?"

Papyrus looked so betrayed as he tilted his skull upwards, his eyesockets widening as he stared at Gaster.

Gaster himself was sweating bullets (how?) as Sans's eyelights remained on their father. As the scientist was trying to come up with an excuse, the doorbell rang.

Bones swore he had heard Gaster murmured a 'nice timing' as the adult excused himself and ~~ran~~ briskly walked to get the door under the pretence of not wanting their unexpected guest to think that the skeleton family wasn't home.

Since the three brothers were the only ones left in the kitchen, Sans ushered Papyrus to his seat and presented him with a plate of omurice. The middle brother was delighted as he thanked Sans and was quick to spoon a mouthful.

Bones looked at the gradually disappearing omurice with envy as he sulkily drank his milk, the small table that was attached to his high toddler chair gave his elbows support to carry the heavy bottle.

He switched his gaze to Sans and succeeded to divert his mind from a dangerous topic... into another more hazardous one. His eldest brother's top and bottom teeth were parted, and in between those cute blunt teeth was a tongue - a blue one. It was only an instant, but his thoughts were transferred into a heavily unsafe territory. NSFW rating MA+ to be more precise.

Bones immediately redirected his eyelights towards the kitchen entrance, the milk leaking out from his mouth as he couldn't quite manage to swallow properly after that alluring display.

Shit, bruh. That was seriously dangerous for my health. If I had been older...

He shook his skull left to right, uncaring to how the milk was being splashed everywhere, desperately trying to dislodge those sinful images flooding through his mind, unaware that he was being stared at oddly by his two brothers.

When Gaster re-entered the kitchen with a guest in tow, it was to the sight of his youngest son spraying the table and floor with milk.

Never had he witnessed his son acting like a babybones before (other than throwing a tantrum during the night or feeding time) and that almost brought a tear to his eye sockets. Christmas truly brought forth miracles!

... But what a messy miracle this was!

It was a few moments later when Bones realized how quiet it was that he snapped out from his... whatever it was he was doing. He was quick to hide behind his phalanges as his bones coloured light purple from embarrassment.

"Ho ho ho! Gaster told me much about you, little one."

The booming laughter was soon followed by Bones being swept into the arms of a fluffy Monster. To be more accurate, it was the King of all Monsters himself - Asgore Dreemurr, who was currently dressed as Santa Claus.

... Please release him. For the love of all that is holy; Bones was dying of embarrassment. A grown man such as himself wasn't supposed to be carried by a Santa cosplaying old ~~man~~  goat.

"SANTAAAA!!"

"Howdy, Papyrus. You've grown bigger."

The king smiled behind his fake white beard as Papyrus jumped off his chair and ~~tackled~~ hugged one of the fluffy Monster's leg. D'aw, so cute!

"YEAH. MERRY CHRISTMAS, SANTA. AM I IN THE GOOD - NO, GREAT CHILDREN LIST THIS YEAR?"

"Merry Christmas to you as well, my child. And of course. You've been well behaved throughout the whole year! Santa's very proud of you."

"WOWIE. DID YOU HEAR THAT DAD... ERR, BROTHER? SANTA SAID HE'S PROUD OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH HEH HEH."

If any of his imaginary audience were wondering, Gaster had taken the first opportunity to escape to his workshop sometime after guiding 'Santa' to the kitchen. The three skelebros were too used to his random disappearing acts to mind it.

* sure did, papy.

"Ho ho ho. Before I forget, young ones, here are the presents for being such good children."

Asgore took out three brightly wrapped boxed from... somewhere and gave it to the three of them.

"THANK YOU, SANTA! CAN THE GREAT PAPYRUS OPEN HIS PRESENT PLEASE?"

"Go right ahead, my child." The king smiled warmly, his eyes full of fondness.

Bones himself was almost blinded by Papyrus's bright smile. The excited skeleton turned to Sans - who was busy with tying a cute bow on a handkerchief that held a few bone-shaped cookies inside - and placed both his skeletal hands on his pelvis.

"BEFORE THAT, BROTHER SHOULD THANK SANTA TOO."

* thanks, santa. _ice_ of you to drop by every year."

"NYEH?! STOP RUINING CHRISTMAS WITH YOUR AWFUL PUNS, SANS!"

* aw, don't be like that, bro. let's open our presents as soon as i -

"DON'T FINISH THAT -"

* _wrap_ this up

"NYOHHHHH!!!"

And that's a wrap.

... Ah, that was wholly unintentional, bruhs!

* * *

 **Title: Fan theories (￣～￣;)**  
**Age: 3 years old**

* * *

Bones stared up with eager eyelights at the neon letters hanging above the doorway to the only restaurant within Snowdin - Grillby's. He was famished, to be honest. Sans and Papyrus were both attending school, so that left Gaster as his only option for a sitter.

A bad decision, but who else would Sans trust to properly take care of his little brothers when he wasn't around?

Anyway, because Sans's would always have the final saying in this household, Gaster agreed to take time off of work and look after Bones. Too bad for Bones, his dad had actually forgotten to prepare their meal(s). So that left him running on empty as he scratched desperately on his father's door.

Food over pride.

When the bedroom's heavy metal door opened, the man himself was wearing a complete set of full-body protective gear as if he was ready to build a nuclear bomb.

Bones ~~demanded food~~ told Gaster that he was hungry, and thus, here they were. Outside of Grillby's, just waiting to finally consume some well fried, greasy food.

Papyrus would be screaming disapprovals if he were with them. That thought caused Bones to giggle.

As soon as they both entered the restaurant/pub, Bones's eyelights were immediately drawn to the flaming hot bartender. Grillby looked fine if he did say so himself. If Bones wasn't so into Sans, he would've jumped the fire elemental's pants.

Perhaps when he grew older, he would have to date other Monsters/humans to try and get over his disgusting affection for his eldest brother, but for now, he would enjoy it whilst it lasts. He knows that time flies, and soon, he would be attending both of his brother's weddings...

Great, now he had no mood for food.

What a downer.

Gaster led him to a booth near the bar and was quick to scan through the menu. Bones did the same, and after a second, half-heartedly told his dad that he wanted the kid's meal of smol burg and fries.

"Something on your mind?"

The scientist placed the menus to one side as he looked at Bones.

"I'm fiwne. Jusht hungwy."

"Is that so...? Well, if you're absolutely sure - but you do know that you can tell me anything, right, Impact?"

He nodded, his permanent smile not dropping at all as he looked down at his gloved hands.

Please don't make him speak. Inner monologues were fine, but speaking out loud just causes him unbearable pain. He was an adult in the body of a child's. Thus his pronunciation wasn't that great. His voice was disgustingly high as well.

Usually, when it was just the two of them, they would bond through their silence (so Gaster must understand that he does not want to speak!). Most of the time, dad would just teach him how to speak with hands - which he thoroughly enjoys, by the way.

Sign Language was interesting, but it was a bitch to learn in his previous life due to how expensive the classes were. Three hundred dough for a week's session of learning ASL when he had no opportunity to even use it? No thank you.

And now he was learning it for free. Yay for reincarnation. Though it would've been better if he was not in a video game... And if he were real... And not just someone's imagination... That could be wiped out at any point of ti-

Bones immediately smacked his cheekbones when his thoughts derailed into a domain he despises the most. He would not have an existential crisis in an awesome restaurant like this!

Disregarding all the other Monsters that were looking at their booth with funny and amusing faces, Bones turned his attention to Grillby, who had just arrived and was taking dad's order-

Wait a minute.

Bones narrowed his sockets as he stared at the two of them. Gaster was actually interacting with someone outside the family. Making small talk with Grillby at that. And Grillby... was casually leaning on their table to get closer to his dad.

He did not know that they were friends.

...

Oh...mi...gewdness!?!

Bones immediately crossed that out his imaginary window when Grillby actually smoothened dad's turtleneck. And Gaster actually didn't look concern about it - and continued without even a break in their conversation. That overfamiliar atmosphere they had going on...

Suspicious!

He felt something clogging his throat as he stared at the two of them, his brain trying to process what he was currently witnessing.

Furthermore, the older of the two skeletons voluntarily made contact with someone apart from their family. And Bones knows how much the scientist hated being touched by others.

Gaster had smoothly adjusted Grillby's specs and even blushed purple when Grillby nuzzled into his metacarpals.

The sight of those two... filled Bones with an emotion he didn't want to name.

His cheeks were stained purple as his imagination ran wild.

It forced him to look away.

Fan theories were scarily accurate at times.

* * *

 **Title: La vendetta es** **una minestra che se mangia fredda ／(˃ᆺ˂)＼**  
**Age: 4 years old**

* * *

 

 

> Dear mother that has never existed in this life,
> 
> This is your son, ~~Impact~~ Bones. I am currently writing this letter (that will be burned effectively immediately upon completion) to you due to a problem of mine.
> 
> Yes, that is right. Those damn rabbits have finally snapped what little patience I have left. Can you imagine that they actually made Papyrus cry? No? Well, it did happen. Papyrus did cry.
> 
> All because he heard their gossipy talk. Mind, they were the soft kind and not the type that I heard during my younger days being carried daily by my ~~love~~ eldest brother Sans. But I do not care. Whatever they said made my cinnamon roll of a brother cry. It was a silent one that was more scary than heartbreaking to be honest, but let's not look into that. Thus, it is my job to make every and all rabbits in Snowdin cry rivers of blood.
> 
> Now I have a few plans in mind.
> 
> 1\. Sneak into their homes in the middle of the night and kill them off.  
>  -reasoning for 'this is a bad idea': my LV will increase.
> 
> 2\. Mutilate the rabbits and hang their foots as a lucky charm around my room.  
>  -reasoning for 'this is a bad idea': my door lock is broken due to Papyrus kicking the door in.
> 
> 3\. Hire a hitmonster and let them do the killing.  
>  -reasoning for 'this is a bad idea': no money.
> 
> 4\. Create a Network and slowly but surely kill them with embarrassment.  
>  -reasoning for 'this is a bad idea': none.
> 
> I shall go with plan 4, as that is the best plan out of the rest. Do you not agree, mother-who-doesn't-exist?
> 
> Firstly, to create an information Network, I will need to build relationships across the town, and definitely out as well. Having a right-hand man will also create a solid alibi by letting them do everything in my stead as I pretend to be the innocent child I am.
> 
> After having built the basic foundation of the Net, I will extend my network slowly, as careless mistakes are often made when rushed. And after that, my plan can begin. This will be a slow-going process which might take years, however, revenge is a dish best served cold.
> 
> In conclusion, with the Net I have going, I can spread dastardly rumours about those wretched rabbits without even lifting a finger. I can even manipulate the rumours they so love to spread. They will all soon be doubting each other, and then...
> 
> MUAHAHAHAHAHA!
> 
> Love,   
>  Bones

* bones? what're you doin' in that corner, laughing creepily?

"-ke ke ke...!!! huh? Oh, nothing brother dearest. Just doing homework."

* ... you haven't started school yet.

"More so should I start preparing myself."

* if you say so.

"Absolutely."

* * *

 **Wait... Aren't you suppose to be evil? (눈_눈)**  
**Age: 5 years old**

* * *

  
It was another boring day in Snowdin. Boring because Gaster decided that bringing Bones to the playground was a great idea for a bonding experience. Which, by the way, was useless when he was told to play with others whilst Gaster relaxed somewhere else.

Bones glared at his oblivious dad, which, to his secret delight, was conversing with Grillby on the bench near him. Those two were so cute! Why were they not dating yet? Anybody with eyes could see the sexual tension surrounding those two.

With a roll of his eyelights, Bones decided that he would rather peek at them then play with other snot-nosed brats. He was quick to find a hiding spot and laid down on the snow, binoculars in hands as he became the definition of a peeping tom.

Oh, he hopes they fuck soon.

... how does a fire elemental fuck a skeleton?

A mystery that can never be solved... unless the two lovebirds make a move! It was so frustrating to see them flirt with each other, yet still not really crossing that invisible line of romance.

Whilst Bones was busy murmuring about how the two should just find a corner to shag, he didn't notice how someone was observing him with eyes that shouted 'creeped-out'.

It was after ten minutes that he felt the need to stretch his bones, and when he moved, he saw a human (omigewdnesswtfishbbq) standing not far from him, somewhat transparent and was looking at him like he was a perverted flasher uncle.

What nasty eyes!

He was obviously a cute skeleton Monster spying on his dad and future step father-mother.

"What're you looking at? Never seen a cute skeleton Monster before?"

He harrumphed sarcastically, hiding his inner wariness. Maybe this was Chara? It was too early in the timeline for Frisk to appear.

Bones, opposite from his confident outer self, was confused and wary on the inside. Chara, from what he heard through the grapevine, was long dead. Like centuries dead dead. That's dead-er than dead. Besides, they were supposed to be perverted back when Undertale had only been a game to him. 

"Never seen someone so young muttering about how their father should have sex with another Monster before."

"Then you are definitely outdated, my dear friend. Nowadays, kids all know the pleasures of sexual intercourse and would wish their parents a happy marriage via physical affection. Of course, if they have a single parent, they would root for said single parent to find someone else to give them affection, lest they die of exhaustion from their kids. The only way to root is to spy on them, and secretly give them encouragement due to parents being shy when their children see them flirting with other adults. Thus the reason for why I am hiding. And the basis of why I am muttering is all due to me praying to some god up there to grant my wish of my father to tear the clothes off the hot as fuck bartender sitting on that bench and let me enjoy the show of them making love and new siblings for me to play with."

"... and you showed your true feelings at the end of your 'passionate speech'."

The not-Chara made a quotation mark with their fingers as they said the last two words. Alright, Bones might have accidentally gone on a rant due to how irritated he was, but he was sure that nobody could see or hear the human child.

Not-Chara was semi-transparent, and where their feet were touching the snowy ground left no footprints. It was obvious that this child was long gone from the world of the living. It was curious as to why he could see them, though.

"Well, forget about that. Do you want to join me?"

"Sounds unpleasant. Why not?"

Not-Chara shrugged their shoulders and stood beside Bones before they both laid on the snowy ground with binoculars in their respective hands. Don't ask how Not-Chara got a binocular. He had no idea.

"So... I'm Bones. Skeleton Monster."

"Chara. Invisible-to-all-but-apparently-not-you Spirit or along those lines, anyway."

"Sounds evil. Let's be friends."

"Sure."

Having an invisible friend would definitely make things a whole lot easier in the gathering information department. Especially in places that are all but restricted to Gaster and Asgore. 

* * *

 **Title: Best friends are meant to be teased ヾ(￣▽￣(TωT*)ゝ**  
**Age: 7**

* * *

  
"You'll be turning 7 soon huh... Time sure flies."

Chara suddenly appeared next to him as he was taking out the trash. Luckily Bones was used to their sudden appearances and random opening dialogues.

"Mhm."

"So what present do you have in mind? Your super bestie will give you anything you want."

Chara pats their puffed out chest proudly as they smiled confidently at Bones.

"Here. I made a wishlist."

Bones handed a piece of paper to Chara, who gleefully accepted... only to narrow their eyes at what was written on it.

"... This is your grocery list! And 3/4 of it is ketchup!"

"Hm? My bad. It's this one, bruh."

Chara received the other paper and immediately, their eyebrow started to twitch violently.

**Money for a giant bottle of ketchup**

"Wish something for yourself, you bro-con!"

"Says the ecosexual."

"Who is?!"

"You."

"HAAAAH!?! I'm not a treehugger!"

"You are."

"And how did you come to that very wrong conclusion?!"

"Your favourite colour is green."

Bones drolled as he crossed his arms and tilted his chin a little upwards so that he appeared to be looking down on the other child (even though he was the shorter one).

"What has that got anything to do with being an ecosexual!?" His best friend retorted with black liquid leaking out of their eyes.

Black liquid meant that Chara had become flustered and frustrated - or when they were feeling intense or deep emotions. Time to up the game. Teasing Chara would never grow dull with those amusing reactions.

"You glare at every Monster that litter."

"That's because littering is bad!"

"You always water neglected potted plants during the night."

"Wha-...! Have you been stalking me?!"

"You always have lustful eyes when staring at plants."

"Are those eyelights of yours just for show?!"

"You couldn't even face the direction of someone eating vegetables."

"That's because veges tastes disgusting!"

"You always dream of having sexual intercourse with trees."

"Stop ignoring me! And how do I have dreams when I don't sleep?!"

"And lastly, you stalk after a talking flower at least five times a week."

"How did you even know that!?"

"And that's how I conclude that you are, in fact, an ecosexual."

"... GAAAHHH! KISS YOUR PRESENT GOODBYE, IMPACT BONES!"

With that, Chara stomped off (without leaving any footprints) into the distance and vanished as they turned a corner.

Bones himself couldn't hold it in anymore and roared with laughter. Of course, he knew that Chara wasn't ecosexual, but he just couldn't stop. His best bud's reaction was pure gold.

After a few moments have passed and he had finally calmed his tits, he swaggered towards the direction of where Chara disappeared to, intending to apologise for teasing - although his face still had a huge shit-eating grin - and to get his birthday present.

He idly wondered if he should update his wishlist.

* * *

 **Title: The cinnamon roll ♡╰(*´︶`*)╯ and the sinnamon roll ↑_(ΦwΦ)Ψ**  
**Age: 8**

* * *

  
The years passed by in the blink of an eyesocket. From him being reincarnated into a video game into the eight-year-old he was now. So many things have changed, some for the better, some not.

He still has some minor case of existential crisis, but it got better with Chara comforting him at times where he was too confused to know what was real, and what was not.

Other than that, Gaster had finally been persuaded that he needed to socialize more, and since that day onwards, they had made it a family tradition to go to Grillby's every Sunday night for dinner.

Papyrus hated the greasy food they ate in that restaurant, but because Grillby was such a softy, he had cooked healthy food just for Papyrus. Every day was a surprise for the middle skeleton brother.

Sans became more laid back as the years passed by, knowing that his younger brothers could take care of themselves, yet still mothering them all (dad included) when he came back from university.

Bones happily munched on his fries as he held onto Sans's metacarpals as the family walked home from Grillby's. He enjoyed having his family together since they rarely were anymore.

Papyrus had skipped grades and was attending the last year of college, whilst Sans was on the verge of graduating University, so they both were incredibly busy. On the other hand, Gaster was buried with never-ending projects and came home late at night only to sleep.

Bones did feel lonely at first, but after persuading Gaster (mostly Sans though) that he was ready to attend junior high (although he had already completed his masters in his previous life) even though he was only eight years old, he now went to school with Papyrus every day since their schools were next to each other.

As soon as they all reached home, Gaster immediately left for his lab (bedroom turned lab actually), whilst Papyrus declared it nap time and ran to the bathroom to shower before bed. Sans on the other hand, patted Bones's skull and made his way slowly towards his room, where he can sleep away like the lazybones he was.

Whilst his family members were busy doing whatever, Bones quickly shut his door and grinned dementedly. It was time to sew a plush. A sans-plush to be more precise.

With determination powering him, he pulled an all-nighter making a sans plushie that could be hugged to sleep. Big enough to enjoy cuddling, but small enough to hide from his family.

Unluckily for him, Papyrus kicked his bedroom door open...

"NYEH! WHY HAVEN'T YOU GONE TO BED YET, LITTLE BROTHER?"

and saw what he was doing.

"This isn't what it looks like!" He squeaked out as he tried, and failed, to hide the plushie of their eldest brother behind his back.

"OH! ARE YOU MAKING A PLUSHIE OF OUR FAMILY? WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME, LITTLE BROTHER? THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL HELP YOU!"

"Y-yeah. Thanks... Papy..."

The things I do for my sweet cinnamon roll of an older brother. 

* * *

 **Title: Ignorance is bliss 。゜゜(´Ｏ｀)°゜。**  
**Age: 9**

* * *

  
**Gaster's POV**

He was currently teaching his student, Alphys, how to create a portable lava gun when the alarms started blaring loudly.

The two of them looked at each other, Gaster with confusion and panic whilst Alphys with fear.

What Gaster discovered after a minute looking through his main computer's data was something VERY bad.

"Alphys, get out of here."

For the first time in so long, he made sure that his voice was commanding as he narrowed his eye sockets at the computer screen, trying to block out the noisy sounds of an emergency.

"B-b-but Doctor G-gaster the c-core...!"

"Exactly. Now leave. Inform the King what has happened. I will try to stop it from exploding."

"But to d-do that you w-will need t-to..."

The reptilian Monster had tears in her eyes as she stared at him, knowing what needed to be done to stop the explosion from happening.

Gaster couldn't help but to smile proudly at his student. She was truly a smart Monster. It was too bad he would not be able to see her fully mature. Just a few more years of exposure to his family and he might've been able to fill her with confidence.

"There's no time. Please, take care of my family for me, Alphys."

"P-please come back, doctor G-gaster."

"I make no promises. Now go. We have no time left for nonsensical chatter."

With a final look, Alphys ran out of the shaking lab, her little legs carrying her towards the castle to inform the King of what was happening.  
Gaster took the picture of his three sons out of his coat's pocket as he smiled sadly.

"Sans... take care of your brothers. I'm sorry for always burdening you. I'll make sure to come home early every night in my next life. No, I'll make sure to keep my promises to you even in the afterlife. Papyrus, you're amazing. Never let any Monster tell you otherwise. You are the greatest warrior in my eyes. Impact... I know how much you hated your name. I'm sorry for being such a clumsy dad to you. Please stop fantasizing about your eldest brother? Hahaha... I love all three of you very much, my sons. Please... Live. Live a beautiful and fruitful life. Never regret anything. Hahaha... How hypocritical... I wished I had told Grillby my feelings before this. I'm so pathetic..."

His voice was hoarse as purple tears leaked out from his eye sockets.

Even though he was afraid of death, he was determined to keep his family and the people he loves safe.

His phalanges soon flew across the keyboard, and after a few minutes, he stood at the edge of the burning hot core, his form already liquefying due to the intense heat.

As he took a step forwards, plunging down the core, he held his family's photo close, his eyelights never leaving his sons' faces as he melted into goo.  
...

..

.

* * *

  
Bones looked towards the direction of Hotland, wondering why his soul was fluttering uneasily for the past few hours.

He pulled out his phone, but his phalanges hesitated to press the speed dial for his dad. Gaster was always busy. Bones shouldn't disturb his work...

It was sudden, but the whole underground shook as if an earthquake had hit. Everyone was in a panic as they shouted, and as their teacher tried to keep the teenagers calm, he ducked underneath his desk and braced himself, his phone was dialling his dad's.

The shaking left as quickly as it came, and after having calmed the class down, the teacher started to count the students as well as contacting their guardians.

"Bones. What was your father's number again?"

"Don't you mean Sans? I don't have a dad."

"Oh right. Silly me. Must've slipped my mind."

As he stared at his phone's screen, currently in a call with an unknown number, Bones felt an incredible agonizing sensation stabbing deep into his soul.

Why did it feel so wrong when he told the teacher a simple fact?

He has never had a father.

* * *

 **Title: What instrument do you play with? (￢‿￢ )**  
**Age: 10**

* * *

  
**[RANDOM TEACHER'S POV]**

"-nk you for that splendid performance, Ria!"

She smiled as she clapped, proud that her favourite student had performed so well. The female rabbit Monster, Ria, was beaming as she returned to her seat.

Seeing that everyone else had calmed down, she quickly scanned the list. When she saw the name of the next student who would be shown casting their talent, her snout wrinkled in a grimace.

_Oh no... Next is the troubled student; Impact. Hopefully, the kid would be more well behaved with his family here._

"It's now your turn, Impact. What talent are you going to show us today?"

The boy stood from his seat and as he walked forward, he loudly exclaimed what he would be doing with a big grin. And boy, what a mischievous grin he was sprouting.

This was going to bad for her health - she could just feel it.

"I'll be playing an instrument to cover the song Senbonzakura."

"Sand-bond-sah-kyu-reh? What's the meaning of that? Actually, I don't want to know. Why don't you start with telling the class what instrument you'll be playing with?"

"This."

_... I have a bad feeling about this._

"...? You should know the rule of turning off your phone whilst in school, yes?"

"Naw, teacher bruh,"

 _I seriously hate this kid's verbal tick._  

"-this is my instrument."

"Your phone?" _The heck?! Please give me face when in front of this many parents!_

"Indeed. My phone."

_Why must you torment me so?!_

"A rule is a rule. No exceptions."

"Tsk. Can't your close one of your many eyes this time, teacher bruh?"

"Don't ask the impossible!" _He will be the death of me! Please graduate early! Or drop out! Please!_

"Ah fine fine."

She blew a sigh of relief when Impact pocketed his phone.

"Then will this be alright, bruh?"

"... That's fine, but a calculator isn't a musical instrument you know?"

"It is. I would've used a trom _bone_ , but I'm not as good with it as I am with a calculator."

A few children and even adults snickered at the pun. She merely sighed as she took a quick glance at her troublemaking student's eldest brother. He was definitely a bad choice for a guardian.

No matter how many times she had called him over to discuss the troubles Impact had caused, Sans would merely shrug and said that he would talk to Impact at home.

She would always get the same answer. But no changes in her student's personality.

Maybe she should change her strategy and call the middle brother? She heard that he was the most responsible of the skelebros.

After that decision was made, she gave Impact a strained smile.

"... Just begin already." She couldn't keep up with him.

"Gladly. You'll be blown away by my prowess in using the calculator."

 _I_ _'m already blown away by your arrogance and demeanour!_

Just as she thought about striking off his name from getting any prizes, the sounds the calculator was making began to have a nice and catchy rhythm, much to everyone's amazement.

When he finished, everyone, including her, couldn't help but clap their hands. The brat sent her another mischievous grin as he bowed dramatically towards his audience.

"Ahem. That's pretty unique, and kinda amazing, Impact. Let's give him another big round of applause everyone!"

Not bad. Now we can move on. Phew.

"I actually would like to show you guys another one of my talents."

_I spoke too soon!_

"Definitely not. One per person."

"I wasn't talking to you, ugly. I was talking to the class."

_U-ugly?!_

"Y-y-you...!" _Not cute at all!_

"So what do you think, class? Shall I give you another intriguing performance?"

"Wait a sec-"

"YEEES!"

"The class has spoken. Now then..."

 _My teaching career is ruinneeed!_  
...

..

.

  
**[Chara's POV]**

"..."

"Ke ke ke ke ke."

"... Your evil laughter is as creepy as ever."

"Hah? Don't disturb me when I'm remembering such a beautiful memory."

"I'm still doubting myself - why did I follow along with such a stupid plan?"

"Ke ke ke. But it's amusing, no? That ugly teacher's expression was simply priceless. Hell, the adults should all be doubting her ability to teach their children by now!"

 _Haaah... How did I get involved in all of this?_  
  
_**FLASHBACK TO A FEW HOURS AGO**_

"You know my stupid homeroom teacher right, Chara bruh?"

_The one you kept ranting about? I can't even forget even if I wanted to._

"Mhm. You always rant about her trying to jump your bro's bones or something - which I don't think is true? Didn't you simple misunderstand her intentions?"

"That's right! That slut has been talking on the phone with my Sansy much too often!"

"Ooooiii~ Don't simply ignore the things you don't want to hear."

"She has been calling every day. Does she know no shame?! He's far too young for her."

"That's because you prank her every day. You're causing her trouble now by skipping."

"And to teach my dear teacher a lesson, I will definitely get her fired! Make her look super incompetent in front of her students' parents."

"You're using Determination the wrong way." I couldn't help but to deadpan. "But how will you do that? You did try to find blackmail material, but she's clean ya?"

"Ke ke ke ke. That's where you come in, Chara, my awesome best friend."

"... I have a bad feeling about this."  
  
_**END OF FLASHBACK**_

  
"Once again, why did I agree to such a stupid plan?"

"What do you mean by stupid? It's brilliant!"

"You do know that if I had wanted to be tangible, I would've just taken over your body?" _In exchange for using my voice, I could've taken more than just your gratitude when your guard was down._  

How foolish for him to trust a creature such as myself. Did he not believe me when I told him of my past? Of what I am?

"Haah? Don't be stupid, Chara."

My expression became dark. The darkness in my Soul was making its way up to my eyes, but I held it back by closing my lids. I had felt this unbearable urge to take over Bones's body just now. It has been so long since I felt alive. I want to experience it once more...

Ah...

I want it.

As I reached out my hand, my sclera turned black from desire.

Bones suddenly laughed - a light-hearted one that I rarely heard. It made me hesitate. I wanted to hear more of that laughter as well. How contradicting.

"You're my best friend. How can I call you that if I can't even trust you with my body?"

What...?

"You may not be bound to me by blood or magic, but you are family. And I... will never betray family. That's why I will forever believe in you."

Bones turned to me, whose eyes were now wide open and wet with liquid darkness.

"So thanks. For reaching your hand out to me. I know that everyone else thinks that I'm creepy and keep a distance away."

Bones took my still outstretched hand into his metacarpals and intertwined our fingers (phalanges on Bones's part) together, his permanent grin now softened into a smile.

"Idiot."

I whispered under my breath as I looked down at our intertwined fingers, my heart beating loudly in my ears. My grip tightened as clear tears trickled down my cheeks for the first time in centuries.

Truly, what an idiot...

Both me and him.

* * *

 **Title: The advantages of having no lungs. ◯０o。(ー。ー)y~~**  
**Age: 13**

* * *

  
"What are we looking for, Bones? This place stinks." Chara whined as they pinched their nose in distaste.

"I... have survived 13 long years without my lifeblood. Now that I am of age, I am going to finally pick up a long lost habit of mine."

"Which is....?" They drawled with boredom as they floated on top of Bones.

He truly was jealous of Chara's ability to float on air and phase through objects at times like this. Whilst he was covered in grime and nasty smelling fluid, Chara was having no problem with where they currently were.

By the way... What was Chara's gender again? 

... Meh. Nevermind.

Oh, currently, they were at the garbage dump.

Back when he was human, Bones was a chain smoker who smoked one pack a day. So for thirteen years, he had been holding back due to his brothers keeping an eye on him, but now... He was old enough to leave the house without informing them!

Sans was always busy with his job as a sentry, although Bones was not informed, he knew that Sans had been chosen to be a Judge. It was obvious. And because he had future knowledge.

Papyrus, on the other hand, was always training with Undyne. Bones truthfully didn't like her. She was too fishy for him. Ba dum tss!

"Why do I suddenly have a feeling that you're making inner monologues and puns in your head, Bones?"

"Because that's exactly what I'm doing, Chara ol' pal. AHA! Found it!"

He held up the new still-wrapped packet of cigarettes in hand as he stricken a pose. This box was his baby Simba, and Bones was Rafiki right now.

"You do know that cigarettes can cause lung cancer, right?"

"I'm a skeleton. We have no lungs! Kekeke!"

"... Why do I put up with you?" Chara sighed as they facepalmed, wondering for the nth time why they even bothered to be friends with such a weirdo.

* * *

 **Title: Chara's creepy best friend ٩(๑･ิᴗ･ิ)(∀´ )Ψ**  
**Impact's Age: 14 > 15**

* * *

  

A drawing by a dear friend of mine: Rin-chan!

To view a larger image of this, open the image in a new tab (๑ゝڡ◕๑)

* * *

  
**[Chara's POV]**

The two of them were sitting cross-legged beside one another on the snowy ground (Chara was floating, but details) at the corner of the playground, just chatting idly as Bones busied himself with making a miniature snow sculpture of his eldest brother, Sans, who the smallest skeleton has an unhealthy obsession with.

Chara had his elbows rested on his thighs and his palms cupping his rosy cheeks as he stared at the way Bones' gloved phalanges moulded the snow expertly through half-lidded eyes. He truly pitied Sans for having such a stalkerish little brother - not that the person in question even knows about his little brother's obsession with him.

The little guy beside of Chara was too cunning and deceptive for his own good. Sometimes, he often wondered how a fourteen-year-old was so mentally developed. But when he took into consideration of Bones' family... It all made sense.

Bones' father was the Head of the Royal Scientists (the title and position given to the most intelligent Monster), his eldest brother was the Judge (the title and position given to the strongest magical being) and a sentry as cover, and last but not least, his middle brother was the Lead Strategist of the Royal Guards (the position given to the most quick-witted Monster, more so in warfare and schemes... even though Papyrus preferred to make puzzles that were harmless).

Chara couldn't help but shudder a little, earning a questioning look from Bones, but merely waved it off. The skele-family were not to be trifled with.

As the sculpture began to slowly take shape, Chara bemoaned the state he was in. Being intangible sucks, but he has yet to reach the LV required to be corporeal. He could touch things that are small for a certain amount of time, but usually, he was just like any other human ghosts - unseeable and untouchable. He decided to suck it up and just wait for another human to fall - being a back-seat passenger wasn't that bad. Free EXP without lifting a finger, if the human was homicidal like the last few, anyway.

"So you spent the whole day with Papyrus making three additional skeleton dolls as a cover? A whole skele family doll collection?"

That made Bones frown.

"Two only. Don't you know how to count?"

"Of course I do." It was just that Bones couldn't remember ever having a dad. Better to keep it that way for now. He didn't want to see his best friend in _that_ state again. "So that's a distraction?"

"Yep. He's a precious cinnamon roll, so he frequently misunderstands me, which makes things easier to-"

"Bullshit your way out of an embarrassing situation."

"Exactly."

"You shouldn't have made a Sans plushie in the first place. That's creepy as heck."

"Shut up. If I can't have the real Sans, I'll have to settle for a Sans-bear."

"You don't have a doll of me stashed somewhere in your room, do you?" He asked gingerly, already preparing to flee from the psychopath if the skeleton said yes.

Bones just shot Chara a distasteful glance.

"Why would I ever want a plushie of you?"

Thank heavens! He breathed out a mental sigh of relief. Though Chara did feel a little offended. Just a little.

A few minutes passed by in companionable silence, and Chara's eyes began to involuntarily trace the phalanges that, yet again, inconspicuously pressed against the young skeleton's temporal bone through his hood.

It was a highly suspicious action, although not many would notice. Bones tended to avoid touching any part of his skull because of the injury he had gotten during his infant years. It made migraines 'a fucking bitch', to quote the other teen nicely.

"Why are you... Wait a second. You planted bugs, didn't you?" Chara narrowed those red eyes of his. When did the underground even have things such as an easily hidden miniature microphone, anyway?

"All for study purposes, I assure you, bruh."

Was the half-hearted reply as the Monster concentrated on making the chubby cheekbones of the snow sculpture perfect.

"Right." As if he would believe such a bold-faced lie.

"Did you know that Ugly Fish is going on a date tomorrow with Bun Bun? Oh, boy does that fish not know how wrong his choice of date is... serves him right."

There was a glint of something dark in those eyelights of his when he spoke the last three words. Chara wisely chose not to comment on that.

"What's wrong with his date? Bun Bun is listed as the number one most attractive female Monster in Snowdin - as per what the magazine polls stated anyway. She's considered a great catch to other single Monsters."

"She's into public humiliation and over the top BDSM. Her last partner - Furbii, if you were curious

("no I wasn't curious, Bones")

\- almost had his penis amputated because she refused to remove the cock ring - and he wasn't able to remove it himself because he was cuffed. The doctor has also just recently confirmed that there will be long-term damages. This all happened yesterday by the way."

"I'm not even going to question how you know rated MA things as well as confidential information. And Bones, that's something I seriously didn't need to hear. Now I need brain bleach. I'll never look at Bun Bun or Furbii the same way ever again."

"You were the one who wanted to know, bruh.

("No I don't, bonehead!")

Besides, just by listening carefully to a handful of conversations, you can acquire a ton of knowledge regarding that person. You just need to learn how to pick up the hidden context and unspoken words."

"... You do know that you're invading their privacy by eavesdropping and snooping, right?" It was pointing out the obvious, but he still felt obliged to say it, even if it was a wasted effort.

"You worry too much, Chara bruh. It's not as if I'll end up getting caught, or use the information recklessly."

Chara shook his head at the overconfident brat, his lips twitching upwards as his expression softened with evident fondness.

He had to hand it to the tiny skeleton - Bones truly was a master at his work. He had never been caught before, even though he was always the number one suspect. So with that in mind, he chose to remain silent concerning that.

"More like you'll use the information when it's to your benefit."

"Exactly."

"You're not even going to try and deny it?"

"What's the point? You're you, bruh."

"That's... pretty trusting of you. Kinda shocking, to be honest."

"Hey! What kind of Monster do you take me as?"

"A cynical demon."

"Who are you calling cynical?"

"You should be more concerned when it's _me_ that's calling _you_ a demon, Bones."

"Ah, who cares!? Everyone here calls me- wait. Be quiet for a sec."

"What?"

"Ugly Fish just opened up an embarrassing can of worms for himself. Hah! This will definitely go into my 'Skeletons in the closet book."

"Why are you aiming at Ugly Fish, anyway? I thought he's one of Sans's many drinking buddies?"

"That desperate bastard had the gall to try and come onto Sans. He should be glad I didn't rip him a new one there and then."

No comment. Rather, were you stalking your brother again?

Chara couldn't bother to ask the obvious so he decided that they needed a change in topics.

"... Why am I even here, Bones?"

"Because I'll be bored sitting here all on my own, duh."

Bones tugged on his hood to try and cover more of his skull as he continued a little more quietly, his phalanges idly playing with a golden heart-shaped locket. The one Chara had gifted him for his birthday last year.

"And because it's you."

Direct translation; because he was feeling lonely and wanted someone here with him, mainly Chara.

Chara felt the need to hug the cute skele. He resisted the urge and decided to go for an eyeroll instead, although a small smile still lingered on his lips. He decided to take pity on the embarrassed skeleton Monster (d'aw, his cheekbones were covered in purple. So cute!) and moved on.

"You do know that other Monsters are looking at you like you're insane right?"

"Huh? Why would they? I'm making snow sculptures with a friend like any other kid, bruh."

"I'm invisible." And 'any other kids' don't make sexualized snow sculptures of their older brother.  
"..."

The bonehead stared blankly at Chara.

"..." Chara stared back with amusement, making their eyes shine red-er (is that even a word? well, nevermind. It is now) than ever.

"Oh, fuck! I forgot about that!"

"You totally take after your da- uhh your second elder brother in that aspect."

"Are you calling Paps a numbskull?! Yo momma's so fat!"

"Don't 'yo momma' me, Creepact! Jeez. I said no such thing. You're impossible."

The two ended up bickering, even more, making unnerved parents herd their children away from the seemly insane skeleton that was arguing with thin air.

Chara couldn't help but be glad that he had decided to befriend this kid even if said kid was - if he were, to be honest with himself - a Machiavellian bastard through and through.

Even though the fourteen-year-old skeleton was as mad as Gerson was senile, Chara knew that deep down, Bones was a very kind and loyal Monster that cares in his own dastardly (and creepy) way.

He cherishes his nine years of friendship with Bones, and would do anything to keep their bond as tight as possible... though never crossing that line to something more involved. That was just plain suicidal. Just look at how sick this teenager was now acting - ogling the snow version of his eldest brother like it was the most natural thing to do. Chara wasn't one to cuss, but shit, his best friend was fucking creepy at times like this.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's a wrap. I think I got sloppy with the edits of the bottom half. My eyes really hurt you know? Damn the skeleton family's font-y words!
> 
> Fact: Impact's annoying and stupidly hard to read dialogues are actually in the font of IMPACT. Just smaller.  
> Fact 2: Reading on mobile causes the font Impact to be turned into something else.
> 
> Thank you all for your support! It fills this author with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯  
> P.S. I have regretted customizing the skele-family's speeches.


	7. When the world is out to get you, ESCAPE REALITY! ＿ﾉ乙(､ﾝ､)＿

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The plot has finally started! Now we can all have some fun (*￣▽￣)و
> 
> Let's all enjoy Papyrus's cuteness, Bones's suffering, and Sans's temper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Christmas everyone! LET'S ALL DRINK EGGNOG TILL WE'RE DRUNK!!!  
> ｰ( ￣▽)_皿~~ ~旦_(^O^ ) ((((´∀｀)＿旦 __(ﾟ◇ﾟ；)ノﾞ

Heya bruhs. Ladies and gentlemen. Boys and girls. Monsters and humans. Demons and angels. Tis I, your favourite Monster in this hellish and forsaken Underground, Bones Lee!

Ok, enough theatrics. The reason why Bones was talking to his usual imaginary audience members within the paradise he calls his mind was only because he was trying to escape the netherworld known as reality.

Courtesy of Sans. 

Reason? Tis all due to the punny bonehead's change of personality. If it was a gradual process, Bones wouldn't have felt any need to investigate. Alas, it was an overnight shift.

It happened a week ago. Bones was simply minding his own business, eating anything Papyrus cooked for the family, expertly swallowing and then pretending to chew. When suddenly, Sans appeared with a strained smile. And then, before Bones could hug-tackle the stout skeleton as per his daily routine, Sans made the first move to hug both Papyrus and Bones. It was a bone-crushing hug too. After that, it all went to shit. 

Papyrus seemed to not have noticed a thing - which was a relief in itself. Sans seriously should be awarded an Oscar or two. And the only reason why Bones wasn't fooled by those fake grins and nonchalant attitude was all credited to his unique way of living; A.K.A - stalk his ~~crush~~ eldest brother whenever he wasn't occupied with his Net.

So the point for his inner monologues was... what he has been fearing for all of his second life has come true.

As spoken by the great Detective: "once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth".

And that truth is?

The Resets have begun, ladies and gentlemen. Though he didn't know how long this has been going. But judging by Sans's overall twitchy behaviour... quite a while.

Now for further validation that this was indeed happening, Bones could only alert his imaginary audience members what had happened yesterday morning. That day was the worst by far. 

Everyone had woken up as per normal, but the queer thing was; the eldest of the skelebros had latched onto the two other skeleton Monsters and persuaded them into skipping school/work to watch dull MTT movies that only Papy adores. 

Sans abhorred those movies.

Let him repeat that.

 _ **ABHORRED**_.

Now if that wasn't strange enough, Bones would declare himself a hippopotamus.

Another thing was how jumpy and protective Sans was being. When they had been taking a walk through Waterfall to release some pent-up energy (mainly Papyrus), Sans had, much to Bones's horror and Papyrus's confusion, picked the former up and took a shortcut to avoid a damn puddle.

You heard right, boys and girls, a bloody shortcut was used to avoid a fucking puddle. Which, he might add, was insanely tiny, and was usually done by Papyrus _sans_ the shortcut. 

If that wasn't a tale tell sign of Sans being a paranoid and protective brother, then Bones would declare himself a neon pink hippopotamus.

Yet another reason why Bones was freaked out was that Sans did not even utter a single pun. For the whole day. Not a single one.

Again, Monsters and humans, Sans did not crack a joke for the whole of yesterday. That, of course, made Papyrus happy... maybe (Bones wasn't sure because sometimes, Papyrus was even harder to read than Sans).

So, demons and angels, do you believe him now? If all that did not ring any bells of doubt, Bones would declare himself a neon pink pregnant hippopotamus.

But enough joking around. It was time for breakfast.

Bones took a deep breath in and tried to exhale all of his fears and worries out. When once didn't do the trick, he continued to do so as he donned on his normal wear of purple and black striped turtleneck, purple leggings, a dark coloured windbreaker with a hood, and his combat boots.

The routine calmed him a little, but he couldn't help the shiver of fear that ran down his spine.

Fact 1: If a Reset, heck, if many Resets had happened... Bones did not have the ability to recall the timeline.

Fact 2: The last Reset or all of the previous Resets were THE Genocide route. That's the only way to brutally fuck Sans sideways. 

Fact 3: Papyrus and Sans were going to die.

Fact 4: He was going to die.

Bones cringed as all of his bones rattled. He could've been mistaken as a snake Monster for all the noises he was making.

He hated to admit it, but Bones has a severe case of thanatophobia alongside with his usual bouts of existential crisis. He knew that if he did not use his Magic, he would be like any other cannon fodder out there. The ones the player (omigewdnesshewasinavideogamenoplease) would stumble across whilst exploring (or hunting). And he probably won't even have a dialogue because he would just be ashes after one hit.

Unimaginable terror immediately gripped onto his very being. The image of Papyrus being decapitated appeared, along with Sans's soul-clenching ending at the Last Corridor.

When he heard himself unintentionally whimper, he forced himself to snap out of his pathetic and negative state. He needed to act as if he didn't know anything. He needed to pretend that he would not have to witness his brothers being turned to ash soon. He needed to be oblivious to the fact that he would follow in their dusty footsteps soon enough.

With a shaky exhale he made to step out of his bedroom but halted for a second to turn his head a little to stare at the wall covered by sticky notes. He needed his daily dose of encouragement courtesy of Papyrus.

Today's gonna be a great day.

That was what his grin was saying.

And if his phalanges were trembling within the confines of his windbreaker's pockets? Well, nobody needed to know that fact.

...  
..  
.

What greeted him in the kitchen was the sight of his middle brother wearing his trademark 'kiss da cook' apron over his casual wear (another change from canon as Papyrus only wore his battle-body outdoors) and striking a pose with a fork as a weapon.

"GOOD MORNING DEAREST LITTLE BROTHER. THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS MADE YOUR FAVORITE FOOD FOR THE MOST IMPORTANT MEAL OF THE DAY - BREAKFAST SPAGHETTI! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!"

Bones sweatdropped as he sat in his designed seating place at the dining table. Without really realizing, his eyelights had softened as he gave Papyrus a true smile. The enthusiastic greeting the tallest skeleton produced could make even the grumpiest of Monsters melt into a puddle of goo with how radiant it was.

No matter how old Papyrus grew, he would still remain passionate about the things he loves. Good ol' Papy.

"Of course, Papy bruh. Nothing could ever beat your... cold spaghetti. And you know how much I love frozen food."

"NYEH HEH HEH HEH! THAT I DO! NOW THE ONLY ONE MISSING IS OUR LAZY BROTHER SANS."

Bones noticed how Papyrus had a cute orange blush dusting his cheekbones at the compliment(?). The tall skeleton even tried to change the topic as he looked away shyly.

It was an endearing sight.

One that he truly needed right now.

Bones, without any shame, gazed directly at his brother, his eyelights trailing after the tall skeleton's movements without even blinking. Papyrus was like a balm to his frayed emotions. Papyrus was soothing. Papyrus was safe.

"I didn't see him on my way down. He must've been -"

"FINISH THAT SENTENCE AND I WILL END YOU, BABY BROTHER."

"... Bone tired?"

"NYOOHH!!! MY DAY HAS ONLY JUST STARTED BUT NOW IT'S RUINED!! SANS! YOU'VE CORRUPTED OUR LITTLE BROTHER!"

Turning towards the entrance of the kitchen, he spotted a stout skeleton leaning lazily against the wall. Gorgeous as always. (๑ ิټ ิ)

* and good morning to you too, papyrus. it ain't my fault that my charming personality and hilarious puns made an _impact_ on bones.

"NO. JUST NO, SANS."

"Sans!"

Bones hug-tackled his secret crush to the floor, making sure to keep his strength in check lest he dusts Sans by mistake. And if he managed to fondle a bone or two... well, nobody but him needed to know that.

* oomph! you're always _jumping my bones_ there baby brother. _tibia_ honest, i blame you, paps. 

"SANS STOP YOUR TOMFOOLERY THIS INSTANCE!"

Bones could only chuckle to hide the irony. He wondered how Sans would feel if he knew how Bones **really** wanted to jump his bones.

Soon enough, everyone was seated in their respective seats and breakfast proceeded as per usual (Papyrus the only one having dinosaur oatmeal whilst the two other ate spaghetti) - with Sans creating havoc with his puns, and Papyrus screeching that he halt his jokes immediately.

Bones could only marvel at the normality of how their meal was being played. Sans was like a ringmaster. Guiding his performers into acting out their roles smoothly without any stutters.

It was too bad that Bones wasn't fooled.

He couldn't be fooled.

How could he?

If only he did not know of Undertale. Or better yet, if only he had not been reincarnated into a fucking video game where everything could be erased by a press of a single button. They were all a pile of data. His life has been a lie the whole ti-

* bones?

Hearing the worry in Sans's voice snapped Bones out of dangerous waters. When he subtly scanned their surroundings, he noticed how Papyrus's presence had long vanished, probably having left for his daily 'puzzle inspections' or training. He had always wondered why Papyrus even bothered with training in the first place. The tallest skeleton already held the position of master strategist within the military. 

He then took notice of how tight he was holding onto his spork. He gradually released his grip and stashed his shaking hands underneath the table, away from his eldest brother's keen sight.

Alright, Bones. Take a soundless deep breath in... Now out. In... and out.

"Yeah, bruh?"

He might not be an actor of Sans's level, but he still had an unbreakable poker face (skull?).

* hm.

The two brothers stared at one another, with Sans's brow bone going further up then wholly necessary.

* you're gonna be late for school, bud.

Bones turned to confirm the time, only let out a groan of despair. He has too many things planned for today. For instance, meet up with his right-hand woman so that she could keep an eye out for any suspicious activities... or any oddities (like if a human has stepped into the Underground). Bones didn't have time for school. 

"Can I take the day off-"

Usually, Sans wouldn't have batted an eye socket at his request to skip, but this time around he was denied even before he could finish.

Sans's eyelights had completely vanished as the air grew colder. Bones might've even imagined (or was that really a Blaster hovering behind of him?!) the sound of Sans's hidden magical weapons. He was sharply cut off by his brother's deep and commanding voice.

~~There was even a hint of furiousness which Bones didn't want to dwell on.~~

* no. that means i expect you to not play hooky for today. and i assure you i will know if you do so. this is not up for debate, impact.

For... today...?

Right. Of course.

Bones swallowed down the intense fear as he was reminded of the Resets. He was quick to hide his trembling clavicles by gripping onto his femurs in order to ground his body from making any rattling noises.

He knew that Sans was under a lot of stress, so he did not say anything back nor did he hold a grudge at the treatment. He merely faced his patellas, not even daring to look at Sans in fear of the stout skeleton taking it as an act of rebellion against him.

"R-right. Yeah. I won't. Of c-course I'll listen to you bru-.. um, b-big brother."

The silence that followed after his stuttering was unnerving.

More so after having heard such a deep voice laced with killer authority from Sans.

It was... very out of character of him. Was Sans already at his breaking point...? Was that the reason why Bones was able to find out about his change of behaviour and personality as soon as his eyesockets landed on the ketchup lover?

When he heard a sigh coming from the direction of Sans, he flinched.

That was, very much, an unintentional reaction on Bones's part. The fear of not being able to recall the Resets, as well as the fear of death hovering so close to all three skelebros, was already too much for him to handle. Add in the out of character-ness of Sans? He hated today.

And he seriously hopes that his instinct-driven actions did not make Sans feel guilty.

... Was Sans even capable of feeling any guilt whilst in this current mood? Let's not think about that. Yep. Bones believes that Sans would never deliberately hurt either him or Papyrus.

After a couple of minute of nothing really happening, Bones finally grew a pair of imaginary balls to take a peek at his brother... who had disappeared.

Probably took a shortcut.

Without further ado, Bones released a sigh of relief as his skull thunked against the table, his bones feeling like jello.

That... was terrifying.

An experience he did not want to repeat. 

The silver lining was that he won't remember come tomorrow... Maybe. If the kid Resets. Or Reloads. Or if he dies. Whichever comes first. 

Bones needed an extra couple of minutes to calm his emotions down before he even made to stand up, only for his legs to buckle dangerously. Thankfully, he managed to catch himself with the help of the table's edge.

"Seriously...?"

He murmured under his breath with purple sweat beads running down his skull. A few seconds later and he was already out of the kitchen, a forced bounce in his steps as he exited the house, not at all minding that he had not cleaned his plate.

It would be suspicious if he acted any different from usual, so with that thought in mind, he pulled his grin back into place and decided that a detour was required.

Time to find Chara.

If anyone could help with bringing up his mood (other than Papy), it was definitely his bestie, Chara bruh!

...  
..  
.

The moment Bones left their home, a certain ketchup loving skeleton reappeared from a hidden corner of the kitchen, his expression pained as he clutched his phalanges tightly. He didn't bother to hide the grimace on his face when he recalled how terrified Impact really was when he was not even able to stand up without holding the table for support. 

He felt guilty and regretted having lost his temper with his youngest brother. Impact didn't deserve that. It was unfair of him to lash out due to nerves. Sans had, much to his despair, threatened his baby brother. Just because he was scared of Impact not being at school and being evacuated on time. He didn't want to lose his precious youngest brother to that demon again.

As he closed his eyesockets (memories of Impact turning to dust when the small skeleton accidentally met that demon when he skipped school) he assured himself that after the next reset, he would make it up to Impact.

It was the least he could do after having spooked his babybones that much.

Even though Impact won't remember anything after a Reset.

* * *

We should all end this chapter with a refreshing drawing of Papyrus. Feel the love since it's Christmas! Think of it as a service (‘∀’●)♡

 This was done by the awesome Rin-chan! (๑ゝڡ◕๑)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your support and positive comments! It fills this author with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯
> 
> P.S. I didn't mean to make Sans scary. Honest. Those wretched plot bunnies were being naughty again! Curse those gossipy rabbits and creepy bunnies! (๑òᆺó๑)


	8. Those that were erased should not be remembered (︶︹︺)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where is Chara? *looks inside a random bowl* ( ￣ロ￣) He's not here!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year, everyone! Let's all have a fulfilling 2018! (‘∀’●)♡

"Chara bruh?"

Bones walked tentatively around the area of the permanent ownerless fishing rod. His bestie would usually be floating quietly around the rod in the mornings when Bones had to attend school (he knew of their habit of doing so due to him always playing hooky), so it was unusual that he did not see the semi-transparent _spirit_.

He kept looking around for any signs of Chara, but after a full half an hour, he decided that maybe they had gone to stalk Flowey again.

With a frustrated harumph, he slumped against the fishing rod and stared into the running water of the lake. He idly wondered if there were really any fishes swimming around underneath, or only trash that humans threw to pollute their environment.

His thoughts turned back to Sans.  

Maybe he should make another Sans snowman?

... Or perhaps he should quickly run to school? Better late than never? 

Whilst nodding to his safer second option, he stood and dusted the snow off of his clothes before turning around... only to see a Chara-look alike walking towards a wooden storage chest.

Oh, wait. That was Frisk, wasn't it?

Bones tilted his head in curiosity as he saw the child's face. Had Chara been one of Frisk's ancestors? They both had near identical features to be a coincidence.

Actually, rather than pondering about such nonsense, Bones decided that getting out of view would be a smart move. He was quick to hide behind the many trees in the area as his soul fluttered wildly in his chest. He had forgotten that the human child known as Frisk was doing the G runs. And it would be unwise to meet such a mad human.

Bones might've been one of the very few Monsters to be able to kill Frisk, but he wasn't taking any chances. And besides, he didn't want to disappoint Papyrus by taking a life. Maybe if it were an act of revenge, he would not care and let the brat have it since everybody else was already dead, but for now... He would simply observe.

He did what he did best.

Stalking.

Bones followed stealthily after the kid, and when Frisk encountered a Monster, Bones wanted nothing more but to throw a rock at them to pull their attention away from the younglings. It was too bad he couldn't do so because that would only compromise his position. So if any Monsters were killed in the making of this action-packed movie... sorry?

Anyway, back on topic. What happened next baffled him. Like, really, bruh.

Frisk was talking (ACT) their way out of the fight with compliments.

This...

Bones was utterly confused. Rightfully so. From all of the unspoken and spoken signs he got before, during, and after breakfast, he was sure this would be a G run. The previous one tormented Sans so much that the eldest skelebro lost all of his cool.

So wasn't this _supposed_ to be a Genocide run?

Now that he really paid attention to the human child, he noticed a few odd things that did not quite add up. It was supposed to be 'boom 2 + 2 is 4 - 1 that's 3 quick maths'. So where was the plastic knife? The killer eyes? The dusty clothing? The eerie smile? Bruh?

Frisk appeared like any other child. Normal. Friendly. Cheerful but shy.

Whaaaaaaaaaat?!

Were his worries all for nought?!

Has he been doing abstract algebra rather than simple addition all this time?!

Then why in the name of all that was holy was he threatened by Sans, bruh?!

This. Was. So. Frustrating!

It was like he came here to relieve himself with a quickie but ended up being twice as frustrated with no release anytime soon. Oh, how he hated not being able to recall the RESETs, SAVEs, and LOADs!

_Chara where are yoooooou?!~ I need you bruh~~~!_

Whilst he was busy bemoaning his own incompetency (why was he, a reincarnated human who had excelled in the game, not be able to remember the previous timelines?!), Frisk finally stopped walking. They were now looking curiously at the blind mutt's sentry station. Rather, their eyes were on the doggy treats. 

Oh, kid. Don't even bother with trying those. They weren't that great. Lighter than marijuana, in fact. So not worth the time and effort to actually hide them from his brothers.

But what he really needed to pay attention to was the Monster standing beside Doggo's station. lo and behold, it was Sans.

Bones was quick to duck away, beads of sweat on his skull as he saw Sans turning to face Frisk.

That was a close one. He was almost spotted. And damn he was making so many tiny mistakes due to carelessness. Look at those footprints he left! A dead give away, bruh!

He was brought back from his self-reprimand when Frisk won their FIGHT via petting (ACT). The kid even giggled and bounced happily onto the next 'map'.

Bones made to follow but reeled back when Sans appeared suddenly in front of him, almost causing him to have a heart attack. No, wait, skeleton here. He has no heart.

Damn his habit for escaping reality when the situation wasn't in his favour. He nervously looked at his boots as he pulled his hood lower, not wanting to meet the gaze of a maybe pissed off Sans.

"Heya Sans bruh. Fancy meeting you here."

* did i not say that you are prohibited from playing hooky today, of all days?

And yep. Sans was definitely angry. The stout skeleton rarely left out a greeting (pun) unless something urgent came up. 

* why are you being so stubborn, impact? don't you know how much i worry? do you not take my words seriously? am i someone who deserves such disrespect from you? this was not how i raised you.

That made Bones snap his cervical vertebrae back up to face Sans, his phalanges fumbling in the air as if to deny everything.

"No! That's not it, br- big brother! I was only taking a detour before going to school, promise!"

* then why do i see you following the human? 

He couldn't help it. He cringed. The next answer would probably make Sans lecture him about his intellect. Like how Sans lectured... that person... the first time he arrived at... eh?

Who... Who did Sans lecture?

Wasn't he found by Sans and Papyrus whilst the two skelebros were buying groceries?

Huh...?

As if the world didn't want him to even think about anything related to that topic, a killer migraine drilled into the back of his skull, causing him to fall to his patellas without any forewarning.

A whine left his teeth as he scratched at his skull, where a crack in his occipital bone was located.

Where did he get this?

 

 

> ~~_Now that he paid extra attention to his surroundings, dread crept up his spine as his pupils darted left to right. He was in a laboratory._ ~~
> 
> ~~_A look around and he knew that they were in Snowdin, a few Monsters looking at them in curiosity as the three of them passed by._ ~~
> 
> _He studied the homely cottage curiously, his phalanges tightly holding onto his eldest brother as the stout skeleton welcomed him into their home._

How did he get this?

 

 

> ~~_He heard a sickening crack when he landed on the back of his head first, and his vision darkened momentarily._ ~~
> 
> ~~_Bones was too busy with ogling Sans that he failed to notice a puddle. He slipped and fell backwards, a deafening crack resounding._ ~~
> 
> _He was being passed over to Papyrus, but unexpectedly, a rabbit Monster knocked over the eldest of the skelebros and he went tumbling to the ground, where a sickening crack echoed._

Why were there three sets of memories overlapping each another? The déjà vu he was feeling right now wasn't being helpful for his nerves too. Had this happened before? Was he simply repeating his actions over and over and over again without even knowing? Was he just another data following an endless script of loops?

The urge to claw at the crack was beginning to worsen, and as he dug deeper and chipped himself, his HP kept decreasing. He felt the need... the want... to delete himself. 

_Erase. ErasE. EraSE. ErASE. ERASE. ERASE ERASE ERASE ERASEERASEERASE-_

It was terrifying.

His thoughts were all jumbled up.

He couldn't endure anymore!

He screamed.

And before he managed to dust himself, he felt himself being restrained, and a familiar yet unfamiliar voice saying some kind of garbled up words. He couldn't control his body, and before he blacked out, he felt his upper and lower teeth parting...

Then everything turned dark.

* * *

**[Sans's POV]**

Sans could feel his bone brow twitching violently when he, (only) by chance, spotted a set of familiar footprints leading to a tree near them. His disobedient baby brother would truly be the death of him. 

For now, he was thankful for Frisk's sudden change of personality. They had even thrown anything that could be remotely used as a weapon away. But even after the human did that, he was still wary of the child's potential for genocide.

At least he knew that currently, Frisk wasn't planning on killing anyone. For the very first time after..., he lost count of the number of RESETS after the five-year mark had passed, but he definitely remembered this having not happened before. The kid would always dust any Monster they meet. **A L W A Y S.**

So even if the kid had a change of heart, Sans still panicked when he saw Impact  _here_ rather than in school - where he _should've_ been.

That's why when the opportunity presented itself, Sans took a shortcut. 

The tiny squeak that Impact produced was adorable, but Sans was quick to remind himself that he needed to drill the thought of being compliant with important matters into his baby brother's thick skull. Especially when it came down to a life and death scenario. 

Impact was a dear, truly, but he was stubborn at the most inconvenient of timings.

Sans crossed his arms over his ribcage, silently glaring at the teen who had immediately turned his gaze downwards, beads of sweat trailing down those cheekbones that were still covered in babybones fat. 

Oh, Stars. He really did not have time for this. Frisk could be dusting Monsters left to right - maybe even starting from Papyrus - due to Sans's absence.

Distractedly, he pondered about Frisk's sudden change in character. 

During the last timeline, they had ended up killing everyone who got in their way. Which was not really a surprise. And before Sans was dusted (he tried not to flinch, he really did. It didn't work. Thank the Stars his baby brother wasn't looking at him), he had been fighting the insane human to stop them from making their way towards the evacuation building.

He had obviously failed.

Perhaps Grillby had stepped forward to defend the children and other defenceless Monsters?

The fire elemental was one of the oldest Monsters Sans knew - even having fought in the war before Monsterkind had been sealed underground.

He shook his skull to clear his thoughts. He shouldn't dwell on the past. Though he didn't think much of the future as well...

Whilst he was busy with scolding his stubborn to the _bone_ baby brother, he stopped halfway when he noticed how dazed Impact's eyelights were.

Suddenly, much to his alarm, those white eyelights turned into purple rectangles, showing that Impact had activated his magic.

Sans was quick to take a shortcut to distance himself, knowing how dangerous Impact was with his super strength - the holes in his youngest brother's bedroom walls (that he tried to ignore) and punching bag (filled entirely out of _metal_ ) was proof enough that Sans could die with just a single poke from one of Impact's phalanges.

Rather than attacking, Impact suddenly grabbed his own head, a whine escaping his teeth as he clawed at the crack on the base of his skull.

And then Impact screamed. A horrible and harsh sound that Sans didn't want to hear from his baby brother.

Sans was rattled. He was quick to stop his baby brother by summoning his Blasters to gently restrain his brother from hurting himself any further.

It was only a minute, maybe lesser, but it felt like a lifetime to Sans. Impact had finally stopped trying to dust himself (and was that not a scary thought?).

As Sans moved in closer, wanting and needing to hold his brother in his arms, Impact's teeth parted, one soft word managing to cause Sans's eyesockets to go completely dark, and if he had skin, his face would've been drained of colour. But since he was a skeleton... his bone rattled fiercely as he rushed to Impact's side, hugging the small skeleton as blue tears ran down his cheekbones.

He really should stop (unintentionally) triggering Impact into remembering their old man. The side effects were dreadful. Sans felt like the worst brother ever. 

"Dad..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The consequences of forcing the world to manipulate your memories AGAIN are not entirely pleasant. 
> 
> Thank you all for your support and positive comments! It fills this author with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯
> 
> P.S. I want to kill younger me for adding special fonts to the skeleton family.
> 
> P.P.S. Omigewdness, have you all read Epictale comic before? If you have not, GO READ IT! It's so amazing! I was hooked with Epic since it was introduced to me a few days back! The art is amazing, and Epic is... EPIC! （๑♜д♜）


	9. Mission impossible ┴┬┴┤( ͡° ͜ʖ├┬┴┬

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Missions are romance. ᕕ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)ᕗ

Bones wheezed and coughed as he ran, not once looking back at the looming threat on his heels. His legs fought desperately to gain distance, but a wayward banana peel (he swore it was winking at him) caused him to trip, falling spine first onto the concrete ground.

He made to push himself up, but it wasn't quick enough. A huge shadow befell him, and as Bones strained his cervical vertebrae, his vision was filled with yellow.

There, standing right in front of him, was a giant banana Monster with beady eyes. They narrowed those creepy black dots and glared daggers at his tiny pitiful form. If looks could kill... Bones would already be ashes in the wind.

He gulped as he smiled sheepishly, slowly backing away from the oversized fruit. The only reason why he was being chased by this monstrosity was due to him having kidnapped this fruit's babies - and making them into banana milkshakes.

Sure that was wrong of him, but he hated bananas, bruh. They are evil incarnate. So it was Bones's personal mission to make every single one of them, regardless of age, into purée. And be discarded into the smelliest of swamps. All because of their slippery skin. It has caused him many grievances.

With DETERMINATION (coughhumiliationcough) to rid all evils in this world, Bones flipped back into a standing position. He then brought his gloved fists in front of him, his stance widening to secure his centre of gravity, and his eyelights flashed to purple rectangles.

"Evil begone! _Split_ you I shall! YAAAAAAA-"

"-AAA... aaueh?"

Bones snorted awake, his bleary eyelights finding everything upside down. Or, well, he was upside down. He wiggled out of his blankets with much difficulty and repositioned himself. He must've half-fallen out of bed due to the intensity of his dream. Which, _tibia_ honest, was getting _under his skin_ with how retarded it was.

Banana Monster? Really bruh?

He groaned as he facepalmed... Which was a bad move. He felt like he had woken up after having worked out excessively and burned his muscles away. A glance at his humerus told him otherwise. Bones could only chuckle bitterly as he looked into the distance. Muscles were just a faraway dream.

Ok, enough with the theatrics and bad puns.

He seriously needed to quit escaping reality - heck, even his dreams were following suit. Not that it wasn't _apeeling_ to fall back into fantasy.

Ok, bruh, enough of this. He needed to get serious.

For starters, let's break everything into points and facts. Then proceed from there. Sounds easy enough, right, bruh?

Bones rummaged his closet and pulled out his most treasured possession - a black notebook with purple words written in his ugly handwriting on the front cover, and a cute sticker glued on the middle. He then went to his study table and sat, his favourite purple pen in hand.

 

>    
>  Point 1: Chara has been missing for a week or so and only now did I notice this 
> 
> Fact 1: I am a terrible friend ;(  
>  Fact 2: Chara has something to do with all this bullshit   
>  Fact 3: The only way to find Chara is to 'befriend' Frisk   
>  Fact 4: Everything would've been easier if I could just remember the fucking timelines!!!  
>  ~~Fact 5: Reincarnation is useless~~
> 
> Point 2: Memories 
> 
> Fact 1: I have 3 sets of memories.  
>  Fact 2: Gaster existed in memory 1 as my dad. There's no such Monster in memory 2 and 3  
>  Fact 3: By my previous knowledge of Undertale, Gaster was supposedly erased from existence. But the details aren't clear on what really happened  
>  Fact 4: Memory 3 is getting stronger by the second and I will soon be forgetting about dad again.  
>  ~~Fact 5: Reincarnation is useless~~
> 
> Point 3: DETERMINATION 
> 
> Speculation: DETERMINATION will allow me to remember **EVERYTHING**
> 
> Cons 1: I may turn into an amalgamate  
>  Cons 2: I may melt into a puddle  
>  Cons 3: I may turn into dust  
>  Cons 4: I may dissolve into nothingness  
>  Cons 5: There will be pain  
>  Cons 6: Acess into the True Lab is not guaranteed  
>  Cons 7: There is no guarantee that I will remember the timelines before this one even if I survive the procedure  
>  Cons 8: There are too many cons to list all of them down.
> 
> ... Pros: **Remembering dad.  
>    
>  **~~Fact 1:Reincarnation is useless~~
> 
> Point 4: Sa _ns_

Bones slammed down his pen when his skull began to throb. He desperately fought for his trembling digits to fold a doggy corner, knowing that he would be curious as to why there was a wrinkle in his otherwise pristine pages.

Another sharp pain caused him to shut his eyesockets, miffed at the prospect of having been denied precious memories of his dad. He didn't know why he was forced to forget, but he refused to accept this. He gritted his teeth and made hiding his notebook his priority for now. There were secrets written inside that were not meant for anybody's eyes but his. Though he has no eyes. Heh. 

So with the grace of a newborn fawn, he stumbled to his closet and hid the notebook inside one of his many secret compartments buried deep underneath his many hoodies and windbreakers.

As soon as his treasure was hidden, he allowed the pain to take over his body. He fell to his patella and curled into a foetal position, the sharp pain turning into a jackhammer to the head. He cried silently, purple tears rolling down his cheekbones, as the memories of Gaster - dad - and everything involving him started to disappear, replacing themselves with something else entirely.

He didn't know how long he'd been on the wooden floor all curled up like a shrimp, but when he became aware of everything, his phalanges touched his cheekbones, his expression was one of bewilderment.

Why had he been sleeping on the floor? Why did the bottom of his eye sockets feel puffy? Why was he feeling like someone close to him had been ripped away from him? Why was his soul throbbing with the desire to ~~kill~~  level his room? Did he actually cry in his sleep over something he can't even remember?

Bruh, this was so not cool.

Whilst in the midst of wiping the tears away, his bedroom's door was flung inwards, the many padlocks and latches creaking as they broke in unison, unable to withstand the pressure of... whatever it was that broke his hinges, again.

Bones numbly counted the loses, knowing that it would take ages to procure yet another set of replacements for all of his locks.

Why did he even bother, anyway?

Papyrus strolled confidently into Bones's bedroom, oblivious to all of the metal locks that were littering the doorway.

Bones felt like crying rivers of blood.

Nooooooo~ His precious gold~ Bruh~ Y U DO THIS TO ME~

"BABY BROTHER! IT IS TIME FOR BREAKFAST AND YET YOU ARE NOT- WAIT. ARE YOU CRYING?!"

Papyrus, who Bones knew was in the middle of his nagging, suddenly exclaimed.

Bones jolted, not having noticed that he had stilled at such ~~an agonizing~~  a grand entrance. He quickly wiped the tears away with his onesie sleeves and smiled weakly at his brother.

The tall skeleton moved so fast that Bones felt a tinge of amusement. One second Papyrus was near the door, and the next he was crouching beside of Bones, the worry in his eyesockets clear to see.

Bones leapt into his brother's arms to hide his face. He was amused, of course, but if he were more honest, he felt incredibly sorrowful. It felt like he had lost something extremely important.

Maybe a person. Maybe a thing. Maybe something invisible to the naked eye.

Even the date on his calendar showed that he was missing a day's worth of memories.

He solemnly wondered if a reLOAD had happened. Or if he had just been lost in his head and wasted a day away. It wouldn't be the first time that happened.

So as his brother rubbed his spine in a supporting manner, whispering comforting words and encouragements, Bones closed his eyesockets, getting a whiff of tomato, colgate, and a unique musk with every breath he took. Papyrus's scent always calmed him down. Papyrus was the embodiment of comfort. 

He didn't know for how long they were just sitting on the floor of his room, but he refused to release the tallest of the skelebros. Papyrus took the hint and without any more delays, positioned Bones onto his hipbones as the former carried the latter out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. The Royal Guard trainee mumbled something about continuing breakfast, but Bones didn't really care. He just needed Papyrus near him. 

Papyrus seemed used to carrying someone with only an arm as he moved about the kitchen, preparing the plates and food. Bones mused that Papy probably got a lot of practice with how much Bones clung to him. Or well, Sans slept everywhere under any circumstances so Papyrus would always be the one carrying the stout skeleton Monster. 

Bones felt that Papyrus spoilt them too much. But, meh. He loves being spoilt by either of his brothers. It made him feel wanted.

* morns.

Usually, the moment he notices that Sans was in the same room as him, he would've hug-tackled the stout skeleton, but weirdly enough, he really wasn't feeling up to it today. All he wanted was to snuggle against Papyrus and block everything out. To make Papyrus a barrier shielding him from the cruel world. 

"GOOD MORNING BROTHER. YOU ARE EXCEPTIONALLY PUNCTUAL FOR BREAKFAST TODAY... GASP! YOU MUST'VE BEEN LURED BY THE HEAVENLY SCENT OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS'S SPAGHETTI! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Without looking, Bones already knew that Papyrus was holding one of his cheekbones, blushing orange.

Sans's chuckle proved it.

* can't deny that. your cooking's the greatest paps.

Bones cracked open an eye socket to see that Papyrus had placed a plate of ~~frozen~~ cooked spaghetti in front of Sans.

"OF COURSE. I AM A MASTER CHEF, AFTER ALL. BONE APPETIT."

* ...

"Pfft!"

Bones snorted, his clavicles shaking as he tried to keep his mirth in check. He failed. He howled with laughter at both of his brother's faces. Papyrus had looked horrified whilst Sans was grinning like a cat that ate the canary.

"NOT. A. SINGLE. WORD."

"don't worry that's _malfada_. no need to be _upsetti_."

"SANS! BAD SANS! BAD!"

* what? i just wanted to _tagliatelle_ you that i'm proud of you bro.

"NO."

* am i going too _farfalle_?

"STOP IT WITH YOUR PUNS!"

* that's  _impastable_ bro. making puns is part of my daily _rotini_.

"It's t-true, bruh. Ke ke ke. If I had a _p-penne_ for everytime Sans says a pun..."

"DON'T ENCOURAGE HIM, LITTLE BROTHER! SANS YOU'RE SUCH A BAD INFLUENCE!" 

* this is _spirali_ out of control.

"NYEHHHHH!! I'M THROWING AWAY ALL THE KETCHUP IN THIS HOUSE!"

* aw paps. don't be like that. don't you _gnocchi_ how much _olive_ you? perhaps we should  _ketchup_?

Bones raised a browbone as Papyrus looked up at the ceiling, his eyesockets squinting.

"DEAR STARS, PLEASE GRANT ME THE STRENGTH... TO ACCEPT THE THINGS I CANNOT CHANGE, THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN,-"

Papyrus suddenly turned to Sans. Bones felt a shiver run down his spine even though Papyrus's expression was angelic.

"AND FORGIVENESS WHEN I FINALLY SNAP."

He could see Sans's grin growing impossibly wide even though the stout skeleton was sweating bullets.

* i think that's my cue to _spagetti_ outta here.

And it truly was.

Papyrus's left eye glowed orange as he summoned a bone, his expression STILL innocent as an angel.

Bones laughed as he was left forgotten (how Papyrus forgot he was still carrying someone, Bones will never know), enjoying the drama of Papy chasing Sans playfully around the house, a bone weapon waving dramatically in the air.

The feeling of warmth enveloped his soul.

He wished days like these would never end. 

...

..

.

He shouldn't have tempted fate.

~~(A/N: I was tempted to end this here... But the title wouldn't really make a huge _Impact_ without the 2nd half of the chapter... Sigh~) ~~

After having ended their horseplay, Bones had gone up to his room to get ready for school. It was at this moment of time when he checked his 'Skeletons in the closet' notebook as per daily routine that he noticed something odd.

As he read through the hastily scrawled words... His bones rattled. He has no recollection of ever having written anything about this, but if he really did get his memories replaced... He took a deep breath and shakily exhaled. The implication of that was frightening.

But he has a solution, didn't he?

His eyelights were brightened with DETERMINATION! Yeah... no. Mostly resolution rather than DT. Since, ya know, Monsters melt if they exert too much DT. Bruh. 

He returned the notebook back to its hiding place in his closet, then took out his stealth attire from underneath the furniture. The wholly black outfit was shrugged on with practised movements. 

Bones left the house without an issue, thankful that both of his brothers weren't home. Judging by the clock, Sans was probably keeping an eye socket open for a human at his station near the Ruins, whilst Papyrus was definitely recalibrating his puzzles. 

He pulled the hood over his skull and abroad the Riverperson express, ignoring the skipper who kept humming and singing "Tra la la ~ Tri li li ~ Tre le le ~"

The second the small boat reached Hotland, he covered his ugly mug with a blank full mask, making him look like a Monster with no face. He then checked if any of his Bones were visible. When he felt that he was completely unidentifiable from 'Impact', he strode confidently towards the laboratory of the Royal Scientist, his gait predatory. And even when he wore combat boots with (very high) heels, his steps were muted. 

He passed by many Monsters, feeling more than a little claustrophobic at how crowded it was. Although he very much hated how populated the street was, he remained nostalgic about the times he explored Hotland.

Sans had prohibited Bones from venturing further than Waterfall (something about how he was still a babybones or some kind of other bullshit). But Bones was never someone who would listen to such a thing. No way, bruh. He thought fondly back to his first visit to Hotland with Chara. He was so cute back then. A little kid in a big place with an adorable self-given mission to build an underground network that could potentially manipulate any and all form of information. He dreamily sighed. The good old days.

Anyway, when he finally reached a white building he knew to be as Alphys's home + workplace, he searched the perimeter for a window - preferably an unlocked or opened one. Seeing that there was none, apart from the front door and many chimneys on the roof, Bones decided to go for the obvious choice. 

He scaled up the side of the building without a stumble and landed silently onto the roof, his eyelights darting left to right with vigilance.

Whilst others would be horrified at the prospect of jumping into a smoking chimney, Bones wasn't worried about such mundane things. The outfit he wore was special. Let leave it at that, bruh. Wouldn't want to spoil the surprise for his imaginary audience members.

As he slowly made his way down the narrow flue, he imagined himself to be in the popular tv series Ninja Warriors. He would've trashed the competitors there with his athletic prowess, bruh!

When he reached the bottom, he noticed that the chimney wasn't connected to a fireplace. Oh, it was worse. At the bottom was a huge pool of unidentifiable bubbling liquid. He was morbidly curious about what it would do if he had ignored his instincts and jumped into the chimney. Maybe he would've melted? Bones quickly shook that train of thought out of his empty skull and peeked out, deeming it safe after a quick sweep of his surroundings.

He gecko-crawled the ceiling and landed at the edge of the pool, sweat already building at his temple bones. This time, he slowly absorbed his surroundings in, not knowing where exactly he was. Back then, when Undertale was simply a game to him, many areas weren't accessible to the player. The game only showed places of importance or relevance to the plot, but now that he was living in the game ~~(don't shut down now, Bones)~~ , the Underground wasn't as small as he previously thought. 

Without hardcopy or softcopy of this building's blueprint, Bones was taking a huge risk. He wouldn't even know if the room he in was filled with hidden cameras or none at all. Basically, he was blind to the potential dangers of being unknowingly monitored. As he previously stated. A huge risk, bruh. 

The vast room, thankfully, only had a single exit place (other than the chimney), so he made his way over, a little fed up when he noticed that the door had a fingerprint scanner as a security feature. Too bad for the owner of the building, Bones was previously a 'legal hacker' before his untimely and utterly pathetic demise. 

He took out a small rectangular device and hooked it up to the scanner. Half a minute later and he managed to bypass the security and got the door to open without visible issues. And oh boy was he rusty, bruhs.

He sneaked around the area, his steps slow and alert as he moved from shadow to shadow. Not that it was hard. The whole place was covered in a blanket darkness. When his eyelights landed on a computer, however, he almost cheered out loud. He was quick to hack into the system and attain the layout of the building, as well as the camera positions. Why was it in the bin, anyway? No wonder he couldn't find a soft copy.

Without any hesitation, he sent a copy of all the experiments and random tidbits of information to his encrypted email. He also made sure to delete any and all traces of his activities here. Don't scold him for being curious, bruhs. The goings of this place had always been enveloped with rumours and mysteries that he couldn't wait to uncover. He even planted a backdoor so that he could dive back in from the safety of his room without worries.

One part of his mission done, he continued to stealthily make his way towards where the True Lab was located, more than a little nervous at what he was planning to do. The him who wrote that insane scheme was mad. Utterly mad.

Finally, Bones stood just in front of the 'toilet', his gloved hands clenched into fists as he took a deep breath to stabilise his nerves.

Alright, Bones bruh, you can do this!

Before he got the chance to input the password, however, he heard the rumbling of an elevator. It was... getting louder. He quickly scaled the walls and hid at the ceiling behind a conveniently placed metal beam, knowing that people don't usually look up for no apparent reason.

Out of the very door he had wanted to enter, stepped a yellow lizard Monster. She truly has bad timing, bruhs. The whole place suddenly lit up and Bones almost had a seizure when he spotted a human standing not far from where he had been - whose appearance was Chara with darker skin, squinty eyes, and no rosy cheeks.

Frisk.

Bruh.

Why now?!

And... Had he been spotted by them whilst distracted?!?!

Oh, fuck his life, bruhs, and do it with a 10ft pole whilst at it!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooooooooooo~~ Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! It's made of satanic rainbows and sadistic love from my plot bunnies.  
> Thank you all for your support and positive comments! It fills this author with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯
> 
> P.S. I think I'm getting used to editing the dialogues... Oh, wait. No. Fuck no. 
> 
>  
> 
> On another note, do you guys want me to post another story? A silly sans/reader fanfic?
> 
> The summary goes somewhat like this (still undetermined):  
> "You are a mage. An unmarried and very SINGLE mage. You wake up one day with the worst hangover ever and one of your own inventions around your finger. Cue horrified screaming... and intensified headache." 
> 
> Basically, this story is about you, the reader, and your journey through self-recovery with the help of your new Monster friends. You make accessories for a living, and carve magical runes on them to bless or curse the wearers. You're a mage (obviously). One of the 7 mages who sealed the Monsters underground, actually. You're kinda old since that was pretty long ago, but this is a fantasy story, bruh. ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯


	10. Meet the Ninja ༼▃ Ĺ̯ ▃༽

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk makes a new friend!

Bones, still sticking awkwardly to the ceiling, watched with raised browbones as the good doctor chattered nonstop after having introduced herself to the human - not even waiting for Frisk to return the favour. 

To be honest, he was a little bored of their ongoing conversation. He already knew the script. Every character's dialogues and actions were memorised by this otaku bruh. And it was more than a little surprising that the Royal Scientist's spoke each line word for word.

On the other hand, Frisk, much to Bones's dubiety, wasn't covered head to toe in Monster dust.

He decided to give the human the benefit of doubt for now - because they could've removed the dust on their way here.

The 'game' continued with unnerving accuracy and Bones was getting more and more anxious. He didn't want to have a crisis about his forsaken existence right now. Luckily for him, the arseholes above finally seemed to be on his side. The 'star' of the underground himself, MTT, came bursting through a wall. The 'sexy rectangle' made the whole building shake. And Bones almost fell. Well, not really. He knew that this would happen so he had been sticking extra hard to the ceiling. As they say; 'knowledge is power'.

"OOOOHHHHH YEEEESSS!!!"

The bot's signature words that announce his presence made Bones's skele-grin become a little more genuine. He might've hated watching Mettaton on TV (coughPapyruscough), but he loved the stupid robot in the game - what with those sexy legs and amusing personality. 

Mettaton then started to dramatically introduce a new segment, a brilliant quiz game, to his TV (and live) audience whilst twirling the human around to the beat of the music. 

With every minute of the quiz proceeding as per normal in the pacifist route... Bones ended up enjoying himself. Everything was better in real life. Much more entertaining than watching it through his computer monitor. He was only missing a bucket of popcorn and a hot D dunked in mustard. 

"Who does Dr. Alphys have a crush on?"

Bones's eyelights sparkled behind the mask he wore and he had to grit his teeth to stop himself from bursting into demented laughter at the mere sight of Alphys's expression when Frisk picked option C - 'The human'.

How very vain, human bruh!! And wow, the kid even winked and shot finger pistols at the stunned scientist. What a devilishly  _frisky_ little kid.

"... seriously, darling? My my... how conceited can you get...?"

Everyone, and yes, Bones included, held their breaths when Mettaton's buttons dimmed.

...

..

.

"I LOVE IT!!!"

Cue 'artistic' pose.

If Bones was on the floor, he would've tripped on air before whipping out a paper fan to tsukkomi the boke. God damn dramatics! Bones was seriously worried that the calculator on wheels would've shot rockets and lasers at the human, which would then bring him into light when the place shook too much. He couldn't help but let out a faint chuckle, knowing that the music was too loud for anyone to have heard him. Mettaton was seriously entertaining IRL. But Bones shall never admit that to anyone. Especially his bros, bruh.

He. Was. Not. A. MTT. FANBOY! BRUH! REALLY!

Far too soon, the bot said his last words and made his breaking exit. Bones would've felt disappointment if not for having almost been blasted off when the sexy rectangle missed his hiding spot by a mere foot away. He subtly moved away into a more shadowy corner, trying to become one with the ceiling. He resisted the urge to wipe the beads of sweat rolling down his temples. 

His actions, apparently, weren't elusive enough because Frisk's squinty eyes actually landed on his figure. He froze, mentally screaming at the child to ignore him. He was air. Just the wind. Nothing but passing gas. An invisible breeze. An imaginary shadow. A trick of the eye. A dot on the screen. Something not worth paying attention to. 

The stupid child evidently didn't get his telepathic messages because they were instantly pointing at him with their tiny little finger as they tugged on Alphys's lab coat.

Ever learnt that pointing is rude, bruh? Someone needed Papyrus's lecture about mannerism and Sans's 'encouragement pranks' to learn. 

"W-what is it?"

Alphys, on the other hand, wasn't even turning their eyes away from the new hole in the ceiling. Her expression made it look like she had eaten an extremely sour candy. She was probably calculating the cost of fixing that. Bones felt slightly empathetic towards the yellow lizard Monster - Papyrus **always** destroys his door hinges and locks. 

Frisk kept on tugging, trying and failing to get the scientist's attention. Their cheeks puffed out in a pout, they tugged a little too hard and caused Alphys's top few buttons to pop and her coat to slip. It revealed that she... wasn't wearing anything underneath. Her front was in full view. 

That seemed to get her attention because she snapped her head towards Frisk - who was imitating a tomato - and shrieked. She then rushed to the 'toilet' and hid there, extremely flustered. Her stuttering was worse and Bones had a hard time figuring out her words. She shouted from behind the door that Frisk should go on their journey and she would do the best to help them... after she finished her business. 

Bones snorted, unable to contain his amusement at the ridiculous and hilarious situation. It sounded loud to him, but thankfully, his voice was covered by Alphys, still stuttering out words that Bones couldn't quite make out. 

As funny as this sitcom was, Bones would need to be a little more patient and wait for Frisk to leave so that Alphys would be distracted enough by ~~stalking~~  watching them through the cameras and feeds. That would be his chance to sneak into the True Lab. Also, he was getting tired of sticking so long on the ceiling. His core muscles were screaming. How? He didn't know, but they were. He just pushed it aside as Magic and left it at that, as per usual. 

Frisk finally managed to compose themselves, their cheeks returning to their normal colour, and was soon snooping around the place, snitching a cup noodle or two whilst at it. They soon stepped on the escalator and was immediately out of sight. Bones waited for a few seconds longer before jumping down. He landed on the floor as quiet as a cat, patellas bent to reduce the impact. He then quickly moved towards the broken wall where Mettaton had appeared, hiding in the shadows. Out of sight out of mind. He doubted that the kid would check the place a second time.

Unexpectedly, the moment he relaxed his bones, Frisk re-appeared and ran towards where he hid, peeking at the edges as their already squinty eyes narrowed even more, trying to adjust their eyes to the dark. He wanted to growl in warning, but something within him - a voice eerily alike Chara - told him to not make any sudden moves and to be as cool as a cucumber. He had a suspicion that Frisk had LOADed at one point or another in order to meet up with this guise of his. Otherwise, how were they able to know instinctually where his hiding place was when they were on the second floor? 

So he did what he always did when he was in a pickle; he acted as if everything was fine and dandy. He leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, ready to strike at a moments notice with the hidden needles - coated in different types of poisons courtesy of his righthand woman - under his sleeves, but still appeared to be outwardly unthreatening. 

When their brown eyes finally adjusted to the dark, Frisk's pupils dilated and Bones could make out the perspiration beading on their forehead. They were tensed and anxious. Bones felt a small trickle of Deja Vu, and had a feeling that the kid had died a lot to his needles if their eyes - staring at his sleeves warily - were any indication. 

"W-who are you?"

Their voice was but a whisper, shaky and unsure. They had their hands on their chest, clutching their sweater as if expecting their soul to be called out as per norm when encountering a hostile or curious Monster.

"Wouldn't you like to know, human."

Bones's voice was altered due to the voice changer implemented within his mask. He sounded softer and robotic, and could be mistaken for a woman. The heels and his slender figure not helping his masculinity. And he welcomed it. It strengthened his disguise. 

"I'm... My name is Frisk. I don't want to FIGHT." They paused, hesitant and unsure if their words would provoke him. "Are you looking for something, miss? I-I can help you."

"My, what a polite child. But shouldn't the right question be: 'are you a thief?' fu fu fu."

His mannerism and speech were far from 'Impact'. He would never have laughed so weirdly. This was so nobody would connect this identity to his own. He even made sure that he was not speaking in his namesake font. Sure, only skeleton Monsters could hear fonts, but better safe than sorry, bruh.

"N-not at all. Everyone I meet here is nice and friendly. I don't think a b-bad Monster even exists within the Monster community."

Heh. Shows what you know, bruh.

Sure the majority of the Monsters here are good, but of course, there are a few bad apples in the basket. Just like how humans have odd ones out - the ones that don't have a clear line between bad and evil, Monsters were the same. The Royal Guards don't patrol only for humans, human bruh. They patrol to keep the peace - although criminal activity was kinda once every blue moon kind of thing due to the kind nature of the Monsters' soul. 

In fact, his current persona was actually on the most wanted criminal list due to him being the leader of a felonious Net. The only underground criminal group, to be blunt. So the King, his advisors, and the Royal Guards were really frustrated when they got wind of his group's existence. But they should've been thankful to him. He kept his people in line, and if not for him, the crime rates wouldn't have dropped to almost nothing - apart from his group acting on his orders. 

Of course, Bones wouldn't enlighten the child of this knowledge. What if that made Frisk want to murder everyone or refuse to break the barrier. Let's leave it so that the kid would think that Monsters don't have a single bad bone in them.

Better not tempt fate.

"Interesting point of view, child. Very trusting, but there is truth to your words." The ones they met were all nice and friendly, so he wasn't exactly lying when he said their words held true. It was just a little omission. "Say, little one..."

They tilted their head to the side, a small smile now on their lips. Bones counted it as a win when their body language showed signs that their guard has been slowly dropping as their conversation progresses. 

"Do you, perchance, happen to be in possession of some fried snow?"

Bones's eyesockets narrowed when he caught sight of the slight tensing of their shoulders when he drawled out the word 'possession'. This proved to him that Chara did, in fact, come into contact with the kid at one point in time. Might've even been sitting in the passenger's seat whilst Frisk was driving up till now. Chara did mention that they like to possess the fallen children and take a back seat - an easy way to corrupt the children as well as to gain half of their EXPs and LVs, earning their trust by giving them information of how to avoid/defeat the Monsters. 

"I have a... f-friend who sells fried snow. But it's too pricey for me. If you want one, you can buy it from him. At Snowdin."

They sounded unsure when they said 'friend'. Must've been weird to call someone they killed in the previous timelines a friend, huh? Especially if that friend remembers them killing his friends, family, and his own death. 

"What, no friend discount?" 

He decided to give them a little break and playfully said that with a shoulder shrug. 

They tensed when he moved, but relaxed upon hearing his playful tone and words.

"You can try being friends with him and ask, miss. Uh, I didn't get your name."

"That's because I haven't told you. Are you really that curious over little old me?"

"Yes! Please tell me."

They looked at him with puppy dog eyes. Too bad for them, he had a lot of practice with Chara and Papyrus. To him, Chara was cuter by a dozen, even if their facial features were similar enough to pass off as twins.

"Hm. Well, since you've been such a polite little shite... You can call me Nin. On another note, what's your friend's name? Hotland is such a heaty place and I'm craving for something cold."

Yeah, short for ninja. Not very creative, but Monsters weren't known to be creative in names. 

"Nin... It's nice to meet you, Nin!" They grinned widely, hands on their hips and chest puffed out as if they accomplished something grand. "And his name is Sans. You can find him at Grillby's. Or any of his stations. Sans is a sentry working for the Royal Guards."

"My thanks, little one. I'll be sure to keep an eye out for him."

Bones was smiling from behind of his mask, hands in pockets as he slouched. He was more than a little tired. Maybe he can come back another day...? The DT wasn't going anywhere, and if Frisk manages to break the barrier, nobody would be here and he would advance without problems.

"Well? Shouldn't you be off, human? I hear that the Guards patrol this area often due to the confidential work Alphys does. Wouldn't want them to know a human has been in the lab, no?"

The kid fidgeted for a couple of seconds, their expression fighting between nervous and excited. Then, their eyes sparkled with DETERMINATION.

"Hey, Nin. Let's go for a nicecream. It's cheaper than fried snow."

They looked like they won't take no for an answer, even if they had to drag him along with them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blatant advertising: read my new work Accomplice to Damnation ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/13332969 )
> 
> Thank you for your support and positive comments! It fills this writer with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯
> 
> P.S. HAHAHAHA I DIDN'T HAVE TO EDIT ANY FONTS! YAY!


	11. The frozen treat that warms your heart (๑╹ᆺ╹)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just another usual day. The most wanted criminal in the Underground is strolling the streets for some nice cream. Yep. Super normal.

Having been persuaded by the kid to get some nice cream together, Bones followed in a leisure pace, the human chatting a mile a minute - their topic ranging from nothing to anything.

When Frisk turned bodily around and walked backwards, yet again raising their brows and asking him to not lag behind, he waved his gloved hands nonchalantly as if to acknowledge them but didn't bother increasing his speed.

The kiddo's expression turned grumpy as if they had bitten a particularly sour candy, with their arms flailing at their sides. It brought him great mirth. They obviously wanted to drag him around but dared not to even walk within his personal space.

As soon as he stopped by the kid's side, they continued their track towards nice cream land, this time sticking close to him (though not too close) in case he fell behind again.

"Nin. Ninnnn~ are you listening?"

Bones turned his skull slightly to look at them, his shoulders shaking with silent amusement.

The kid apparently thought it wasn't funny to be ignored. They pouted, their cheeks imitating a puffed out blowfish.

"I'm listening, Mrs. Puff."

"If you had been paying attention, Nin Nin, you would've heard me tell you to kick the gear up a notch and drive faster. Those legs aren't just for show!"

"I ain't got a license. I'll crash if I go too fast."

"And that's why you're in my class - where even weird sponges can learn how to be a pro driver."

They both stopped in their tracks and turned to face one another. A strange staring contest ensued, but it only lasted for a few seconds. It was broken by a loud guffaw. Bones even had to turn away so he could shift his mask aside and wipe his eyesockets. He was laughing that hard.

Frisk, on the other hand, was doubled over with their hands on their stomach, giggling and snorting like no tomorrow. It reminded him of Chara bruh - when he managed to crack that sarcastic exterior of theirs and make them lose their cool.

Bones wasn't one to make friends. Mostly due to others being unnerved by him. But he got the feeling that Frisk would be added to his short list of 'people he would protect' soon enough. The kid seems to legitly enjoy his company. So who was he to stop them, bruh?

When they both paused to take a breather, Bones righted his mask before turning to face the lovable brat. Frisk's broad smile was contagious, and he couldn't help his own grin from widening. Frisk then pointed their chin forwards to indicate that they should move, so after shoving his hands into his pockets, he followed after them with more energy in his steps.

"Soooooo... I didn't know Spongebob was a thing here."

"You don't know many things, young grasshopper. There is much to discover around this parts of the world."

"Noted, Master Nin. This one shall strive to learn all there is to learn about the Underground."

"Good good. And to answer your question, cartoons are our treasures. They bring happiness to our souls. Go explore the places and Monsters here, little Frisk. Make friends. I'm sure you'll find out surprising things - whether they be good or bad."

"Yes, Master! Thank you for your words of advice! I have been enlightened!" 

Bones nodded sagely whilst Frisk cupped their tiny fist and bowed. They showed a perfect act of a Master teaching his Student the importance of friendship and knowledge.

After getting up from their bow, Frisk opened their mouth with a twinkle in their brown eyes, as if wanting to continue their weird banter, but stopped themselves when Bones gestured towards Nick - the Nice Cream Guy to everyone else - and his cart.

The rabbit Monster was sweating bullets underneath his thick blue fur and usual yellow shirt, and even the tuft of fur on his head drooped down to show its displeasure at the temperature. The radiant smile on his face, on the other hand, showed that he was happy. Probably due to the influx of customers in Hotland.

Nick took notice of Frisk at first, their business smile broadening at the prospect of yet another potential customer. When he spotted Bones, on the other hand, the smile turned strained and weird, although many would not notice - Bones simply did because he knew Nick on a personal level. 

"Hello! Would you like to buy some Nice cream? It's the frozen treat that warms your heart."

The question was directed at the kid, but Nick's eyes continued to flick towards him, confusion and wonder in it. 

Bones shrugged his shoulders a little, knowing that the vendor's keen eyes would catch it. He knew that Nick was curious as to why he was with the human - buying nice cream at that. Their interactions were usually just with text, emails, or calls if urgent. Bones, as Nin, the leader of the Net, rarely makes 'her' appearance. The last time 'she' did, it was when 'she' gave an example of what would happen if someone in their group decided to bail and blabber to the Royal Guards. Thus why their organization got found out. 

The rabbit Monster appeared less tense after that. He must've thought that Nin came here personally due to something he did wrong.

"Yes, please! I'll have the cinnamon-butterscotch flavour. What'll you get, Nin?"

"Hmm. It's been a while since I've gotten myself a treat. How about you choose for me?" 

To be honest, Bones rarely ate comfort food. Even back then when he had been human, he usually ate everything that would make him full - but it has to be inexpensive. His meals would always consist of high-calorie diet due to him always eating once a day because of work. And desserts are anything but fulfiling and cheap.

"The imaginary voice in my head tells me that you're someone who would enjoy something blue. So one blueberry nice cream, please!" 

Bones's eyelights flickered out and he felt his cheekbones turn purple. Alright. Chara's definitely in there - that little shite! 

"Here you go! Have a super-duper day, friends!"

With a nice cream in hand, Bones cleared his non-existent throat to compose himself and unwrapped the treat, both of them walking to a bench nearby and sat down. 

"What words did you get?"

Frisk questioned, their little tongue poking out from the corner of their lips as they concentrated on not ruining the wrapper.

"Fu fu fu. It wrote that I look nice today. Even inanimate objects flirt nowadays."

Bones folded the wrapper skillfully with a single hand and pocketed it whilst the other was holding the neon blue treat. It was somewhat neat that the nice cream didn't melt upon leaving the freezer. Bones summed it up to Magic.

"It's not wrong." Frisk shot Bones a wink, their eyes playfully roaming his body.

"Why thank you, kid. But let's wait until you get rid of those stripes. Then maybe I'll flirt back."

"Wow. You want me to strip here? I'm not into that kind of public thing. But I suppose I'll do it for you~"

Bones bonked the kid's head, more than a little amused at their humour. 

"No thanks. I'm not into children. So, what does your wrapper say?"

"Bummer. I'll make sure to grow a little more before coming back to you. Mine says... 'Isthis as sweet as you?'. You're right. This thing is flirting with everyone!"

Frisk winked once more before they shoved the frozen treat into their mouth happily, their eyes sparkling at the taste. 

Now Bones was in a dilemma. He forgot that he would need to eat the treat. And to do that, he needed to remove his mask. He should've kept the nice cream in its wrapper and put it away, stating that he would eat it later and make a break for it. 

The human child blinked their squinty eyes and nudged his humerus, not having noticed that they had gotten over their fear of touching him. 

"What's wrong? Maybe you don't like blueberry? Sorry, I just assumed..."

"Nah. N _ice_ of you to be concerned and all. But it's _cool_ , kid. I just remembered I have an important appointment to attend to." 

Frisk giggled a little at his puns, but their eyes lost their sparkles.

"Can... Ahem. Can I have your number, at least? We can text. I don't want to lose a new friend just because I don't know how to contact you."

"Fu fu fu. Sure. But before that, can you promise me two things?"

Bones crouched in front of them so that they were at eye level, leaning back against his boot heels to be more comfortable. The kid stared at him as they popped the nice cream out of their mouth, squirming on the bench as they nodded their head quickly.

"The first is... You can't give out my contact number to anyone - regardless of who asks. I need a verbal agreement, Frisk."

"I promise."

"Promise what?"

"I promise I won't give your number to anyone."

"Not even the King."

"Not even the King. You have my word, Nin."

"Thanks, kid. The other is that you can't tell anyone that you know me."

"Wha- what do you mean?"

Frisk leaned forward, their face just a few centimetres away from Bones's mask.

"No questions, Frisk. If you can't promise me that, I won't be able to tell you my number. But we can still remain as friends."

They suddenly clenched their fists and stood up, almost dropping their nice cream in the process and forcing Bones to follow their lead if he didn't want to fall on his arse. He quickly righted himself and moved so that there was a space in between of them.

Their eyes sparkled and he could spot the DETERMINATION within them.

"No matter who asks, I'll pretend to be clueless about your identity. And even if I spot you in a crowd, I'll just walk away. I promise."

"Thank you, Frisk." Bones chuckled under his breath and ruffled the kid's mop of hair, earning him a whine of disapproval. "Although it is kind of you to ignore me in the future, I doubt you would even see me in the crowds. Don't worry, little friend. Text me whenever. We can meet up once in a while."

The moment he said that, he poked the kid's forehead with a sticky note with his number scribbled on it and turned on his heels, his hand waving nonchalantly in the air.

"See you around, buddy."

"See you, Nin! Make sure to reply to my texts!"

The moment he turned a corner and was out of view to the child, he took out the wrapper and scanned it again.

> Blue Spear has made contact with Discreet Stalker at location D. Fluffybuns has ordered his dogs to sniff through Snowdin tomorrow, Waterfall the day after, Hotland and CORE two days after. Sticky Surprise has planted bugs at location NH and AL. SS also says that they will keep you updated about the meeting and plans being made between Fluffybuns and Smiley Comedian at location JH. 

Bones pushed his mask aside and licked the nice cream. Warmth flooded his soul and he hummed. Maybe eating more comfort food wouldn't be that bad. Just 15G. 

After finishing his treat, he wrapped the stick and threw them into the lava, making sure that they burned thoroughly before leaving. Bones leisurely walked towards the direction of Waterfall, having lied to Frisk about the appointment. He needed time to himself. 

When he neared Waterfall, crossed the wooden bridge and almost left Hotland, Bones finally remembered that this place was an area that was supposed to be avoided at all cost.

* want a dog, pal?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Blatant advertising: read my new work Accomplice to Damnation ( https://archiveofourown.org/works/13332969 )
> 
> Thank you for your support and positive comments! It fills this writer with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯
> 
> P.S. Another day without HTML editing. This is heaven. Nyeh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh heh!!!!!..... Oh. Wait. Why do you prank me across time and space, Sans?!


	12. You are filled with DETERMINATION (ฅ`ω´ฅ)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Monster + DETERMINATION = ༼ ;〠_〠 ༽~

Bones stared at his crush dumbly, his feet refusing to move. Have you ever heard the term 'frozen due to fear'? Well, he wasn't exactly fearful for his life. Just this identity's one. Being grounded was the least of his worries.

The voice in his head was shouting NOPE and GTFO hysterically.

This wasn't supposed to happen. The Smiley Comedian was supposed to meet the kid at his 2nd sentry station in Hotland, stacking hotdogs on the human's head and laughing at Frisk when they discover that the dogs were actually cats. And Frisk would probably inwardly curse the skeleton because, seriously, who would prefer watersausages over a real hot D? The nerve!

But no, bruh! The world decided to fuck Bones up by making Sans stay a few extra minutes to get some Zs by the looks of it. Sans's sockets were heavy with exhaustion, but his whole body was tensed - as if ready to enter a FIGHT at a moment's notice.

Oh, stars. He can't risk having a Monster showdown. Not right now and not with this particular Monster. Especially because Sans and Papyrus knew the feeling of Bones's soul intimately.

Actually, maybe he should just go along and buy a hot D? Yeah, bruh. Nobody knows what Nin looks like. The traitor only managed to describe that 'she' always wore black, a blank white mask, and combat boots before he was abducted in front of the King's eyes by Sticky Surprise.

... Bones inwardly facepalm. Maybe he should've worn the camo version of his stealth wear. It was much more fashionable, although not exactly blending in the shadows unless he was in a forest or something.

Ugh, stop escaping reality, Impact Bones! 

For now, let's play it cool.

"Are you offering those for free?"

He answered in a coy tone, his body moving towards the seated skeleton as if he had not a care in the world.

Never has he been so thankful that the voice changer made him sound pleasant and soft, yet unforgiving with a dash of 'unfeeling robot'. He decided that if he survives this encounter without getting his identity compromised, he would give his Net's technician some of Alphys's metal parts as a reward.

* it depends.

"Depends on what, handsome?"

Bones purred.

The moment he reached the wooden post, he seated himself on the station's counter and crossed a leg over the other. He could see Sans's eyelights following the movements of his lower limbs before they refocused on his mask.

The other skeleton shrugged his shoulders.

* it's yours if you answer 5 questions of mine.

"One for one. Fair trade."

* then let's settle for 5 5.

"Sorry big boy, that's too much for little ol' me. 2 questions for one."

* 3 for a dog dunked in ketchup. _throw me a bone_ here.

"Make it mustard and I'll play along, bone boy."

* you drive a hard bargain, lady, but i _relish_  in challenges.

Sans winks as he hands over a hot dog covered in unnatural amounts of mustard to Bones. Heh. That was weak, bruh. Sans's 'dunk food in condiments' prank won't work if the target loves having their food covered in their choice of sauce.

Bones nodded in thanks and kept his food inside his phone's dimensional storage. Don't ask how that works. Everything sums up to one thing; magic. And Alphys's genius.

"Alright. Shoot away."

* geez. i ain't got no gun to shoot with. will finger pistols do?

The punny Monster even did those silly ~~finger~~  phalanges guns at him. 

"Charming."

* everybody says so.

Sans winked again.

Bones had to stifle his giggles and force his hands to refrain from cupping his cheeks. He was blushing bright purple. Flirting openly with his crush was... refreshing, bruh. Even if he was hiding behind another identity.

* welp. let's start with something easy. got a name, lady?

"I do."

Sans waited for Bones to continue, but he remained quiet, inwardly cackling.

* uh, might want to continue that, pal.

"Continue what?"

* your name.

"Is that another question?"

Sans's eyesockets widened for a split second before he burst out in laughter, a phalanx wiping his magical tears away.

* good one. seems like i have to be direct since you're only answering _bare-bones_. very cunning of you. but i got _thick skin._

"Pfft! I doubt it."

He made a show of looking up and down Sans's body as if to emphasize on his lack of anything, much less skin. 

Sans's grin widened.

* that's rude, lady.

* since i've wasted a question away, i'll just assume you're called 'i do' and continue. did you break your daily routine by coming here, and if so, why?

Before Bones could answer 'Yes, but I don't keep track of my toilet schedule.', Sans continued his voice light with amusement.

* here as in hotland in general. and your daily routine consists of everything you do when you wake up until the day ends with you falling asleep. those that are noteworthy of being called a routine, which are scheduled activities.

"Wow. You must really want a serious answer... fu fu fu. Alright. I will oblige to your request. Indeed I broke my routine. Hotland is somewhere I don't often visit due to the crowds. However..."

Bones voice, from confident and playful, became soft as a whisper, and finally ended in silence.

How peculiar.

Why did he come to Hotland again?

His head was buzzing and numb, and he swore he heard a familiar and nostalgic voice warning him of... he was not sure. But it sounded disapproving and very sad.

The sound of fingers snapping in front of his mask brought him out from his stupor. Sans was staring at him with keen eyelights - which, to be honest, was nerve wrecking.

* easy, pal. take a deep breath. there we go. easy.

Sans sounded... worried(?) for some reason. Now that Bones was aware, he noticed that his body was limp against the station's support pole, the other skeleton's hands near in case he collapsed off the counter. He pushed himself onto his feet and took a few deep and severely shaky breaths.

"Pardon me for such an abrupt departure, but your last question will have to be postponed. Farewell."

Bones turned away, his head still unclear, and his thoughts only focused on getting into Alphys's True Lab. Why? He didn't know. He just needed to go there. It was vital.

* woah. steady, pal.

He felt someone steadying him by holding onto his humerus. He should've felt glad for using padding, but everything seemed insignificant at the moment. Why was everything so dull? Did he accidentally drink expired mustard again?

"I-I- am fiwne. Unwhand mwe thish instache."

* hate to break it to you, but you're slurring. and unsteady. and kinda leaning onto me? uh, pal, i'm kinda late for my date, ya know? gotta threaten a kid and all that. you know, normal stuff.

"Gow ahwead. Fwisk will bee sasdh if yew ignowe dem."

* ...

"Ugh!"

Bones pushed away the person he was leaning on and fell onto his hands and knees. He immediately tossed his mask aside and puked out excess magic. Oh, stars, what was going on?!

He was not going to faint thrice in a day!

Wait, when did he faint?

No! Hold onto that!

He caught a glimpse of something. He wasn't going to lose it. Not again, bruh!

He pushed all of his meagre DETERMINATION into it and finally managed to break through the buzzing in his head.

He remembered waking up and looking at the calendar. It was August the 22nd.

He remembered waking up again after a week. It was, yet again, August 22nd.

He remembered doing everything the same, but different at the same time.

He remembered turning to dust on the 28th.

He remembered being carried by Grillby to the evacuation building, his hands holding onto a dusty red scarf as he bawled and screamed. It was also, the 28th of August.

He remembered Papyrus yelling about a human ignoring his puzzles and had a scary smile the entire time. 28th.

He remembered hearing Sans's heart-wrenching sobs coming from his bedroom. 22nd.

He remembered Sans's unmoving form as he laid on the snow next to a pile of dust, those chubby cheekbones stained with tears. 28th.

He remembered being tossed into Papyrus's arms as Sans howled for them to run, just as a knife stabbed into his ribs and pierce his soul. 28th.

He remembered Chara's semi-transparent form crying as they wrapped their arms around his gradually dusting skull, the demon wailing as Bones tried to stroke their cheek in comfort. 28th.

He remembered asking why Papyrus stopped wearing his battle body. Papyrus said that it had gotten dirty from the red liquid a day ago. Bones peeked into the tall skeleton's closet. It was impeccably clean. 22nd.

He remembered many other timelines. All of them he ended up dying in Papyrus's or Sans's arms. Never once having died after both of them. Always first or second.

Lastly, he remembered the recent RESET. He was standing outside the Judgement Hall, wearing dusty pink slippers and an equally dusty red scarf. He began educating the human. 28th.

He remembered waking up on the 22nd, enjoying a whole week, oblivious to the sins he had committed. On the 28th, he fainted after having stalked the human... and before his memories could be erased by the timeline yet again, he managed to write about how DT would MAYBE allow him to remember.

And it did. Well, not all because of his current state. But he still remembered almost (maybe?) half of the RESETs.

All he needed was to use the DETERMINATION he had managed to get his hands on last twenty reLOADs ago. 

Bones's skull was shadowed, so his brother couldn't see him, but he felt it.

He was melting.

He gave a gurgled laugh, his voice unnervingly wet.

Too much DETERMINATION... melts a Monster...

* * *

Bones turned the corner and read the words Nick wrote on his nice cream wrapper. He then wrapped it around the treat's stick and tossed it into a pool of lava nearby, making sure to watch as it was wholly destroyed. He didn't want to leave behind any evidence for the guards.  

When he turned on his heels, Frisk was there.

He raised a bone brow behind his mask.

"Didn't we just part, little one?"

"Can you accompany me to, at most, MTT resort, Nin nin? Please?"

"... Why?"

"I don't want you to melt."

"Excuse me?"

Bones was covered in cold sweat, his voice going a little higher. Thank god for the voice scrambler in his mask.

"Please."

Their eyes were filled with DETERMINATION.

"... Alright, kiddo. But you have a lot of explaining to do."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your support and positive comments! It fills this writer with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯Seriously. It motivates me to hell and back.
> 
> Anyway, many of you are asking about the romance part. It will start with them leaving the underground. So look forward to it! :D
> 
> P.S. Fuck! Why did past-me think it was cool to edit the fonts?! What a masochist! And you guys are making fun of me too much just because I search for ways to not edit the damn fonts (┳Д┳) Meanies!


	13. Tag team ( - _ - ) /\(◍╹u╹◍)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Frisk's POV
> 
> Frisk: CHECK  
> Chara: ¬¬ No.  
> Frisk: ... Why?  
> Chara: Duh! He's Jerry. Just run. Before he clings to you. By then only god can save you!

Frisk felt giddy with joy as they watched their newest friend saunter away. They had believed that being friends with Nin was impossible. But DETERMINATION was all they needed to befriend the second most dangerous Monster in the Underground.

They lost track of how many times they needed to reLOAD due to their carelessness (and stubbornness), but after managing a decent conversation, they hurriedly SAVEd each time in case the next word they used managed to trigger Nin into stabbing them with... needles.

They recalled their... meetings.

* * *

 "H-hello? I know you're there. I-I... If you don't come out, I'm telling Alphys-"

They spat a mouthful of blood when they saw hundred of needles stabbing them in the torso, covering their entire front as a shadow with a white mask emerged from the darkness.

 **LOAD**.

"Hi. My name's Frisk. What are you steali-"

They screamed as needles entered their eyeballs, piercing through their brain.

**LOAD.**

**LOAD.**

**LOAD.**

"You idiot! Can't you find better words? Stop accusing them or pointing out that you're going to report them to the Royal Guards or Alphys!"

Chara was smacking Frisk's head with his hand, clicking his tongue in annoyance at their incompetence. The ghost was exasperated and had a pinched expression. 

"Can I at least CHECK them?"

"I advise you avoid getting into a FIGHT with them, retard."

Because Frisk was a stubborn child, they entered the broken wall and spread their legs for better balance in case they needed to dodge. They could always reLOAD if they die. Getting the Monster's status was more important.

"FIGHT me-"

Before they could finish, a needle had pierced their skin. It was only one, so they decided to ignore it. They opened their mouth to continue but found out that they couldn't move, much less talk. 

"It's covered in poison. Have fun, human. Fu fu fu fu."

The voice of the mysterious Monster was scrambled but feminine. She passed them by a wide margin and from the corner of their eyes, they saw the ninja/thief going into Alphys's toilet. 

They didn't know for how long they had been lying on the ground (Chara snarked out "thirty minutes!"), unable to move, but it was getting difficult to breathe. When they felt their lungs collapse (finally!), however, they welcomed the sweet embrace of death. One of the cons of using their powers was that they couldn't LOAD or RESET without dying. And they learnt the hard way from that devil of a skeleton that dying was a mercy whilst they were being tor-

**LOAD.**

**LOAD.**

**LOAD.**

**LOAD.**

**LOAD.**

...

..

.

"Aren't you going to give up with trying to FIGHT her?"

Chara sounded bored as he hovered over Frisk's dying body, blood pooling underneath them.

"I ne.. ed to c.. che... ck... her.."

"Ugh fine. If you insist."

Frisk smiled. This time, Chara was helping them with the dodging.

 **LOAD**.

They had finally managed to enter a FIGHT against the Monster. Their soul was bright red and filled with DETERMINATION as they stared solemnly at the Monster. They eyed the Monster's sleeve warily. No more needles...! They were already traumatized by bones. They didn't need to add needles and pointy objects to that list. Their eyes turned red when Chara took control of their body to dodge the first batch of needles, but before they could poke the CHECK button, their vision grew dark.

 **LOAD**.

What the frick?! They didn't even notice having died! The Monster moved too fast! Even Chara grumbled.

They quickly pressed the CHECK button - lending the ghost's knowledge - before the Monster made their move, Chara once again in control of their body.

* NIN - LV ??

* ATK 49 (99) DEF 1 (10)

* Her name alone scares children into having a seizure.

_What's with the scary stats, Chara?!_

"Nin basically trains her body to the limits each day. Unlike other Monsters who train their magic. She does this because she isn't able to use magic normally. She's kinda handicapped in the magic department if you get me. The moment she activates her magic, however, her ATK will increase to 99 because... well, her magic strengthens her body. She's like Superman. Might be wise of you to avoid a close combat fight. But if you fight a long ranged battle, like using a gun, you could _probably_ win... Her accuracy in projectiles is scary too."

_That's not exactly helpful in defeating her, Chara! I made a promise to HIM that I won't kill anyone anymore. If I break that promise, I'll seriously lose my mind when HE catches me._

"CHECK-ing comes from my knowledge of Monsters, Frisk. Even I don't know much about this spymaster. Don't ask for the impossible."

_How am I suppose to ACT if she doesn't let me?!_

"That's why I said NOT to FIGHT her, you imbeci- incoming!"

 **LOAD**.

* * *

Hundreds of tries later and here they were, a sticky note on their forehead and a goofy grin on their lips. 

"Ugh finally! I was beginning to think that you're a masochist."

They ignored the whining ghost and turned to continue their journey, but not before saving Nin's number into their mobile. They would be meeting Sans soon at his second sentry station in Hotland. And they were getting hungry. Maybe Sans would offer them some hot dogs. They wouldn't even mind buying those extremely expensive fried snows. That was how hungry they were.

"Where's that Smiley Comedian?" Chara floated over so that they were behind the station. "Eew... At least clean up your stations, Sans! Damn, and he used to be such a clean freak..."

That made Frisk perk up. 

"You know Sans as a kid?"

"I already said I'm older than I look, Frisk. But yes, I do know him. More than I like."

"What was he like as a kid?"

"A mother hen. A clean freak. A mature kid. A genius. A loving son. A scientist in the making... Even now, I can't believe how different he is."

Even though they spoke with a carefree and nonchalant tone, Frisk recognized the sadness in his red eyes. 

"Were you friends with him...?"

He turned away from Frisk, his back towards them.

"No. He can't see me."

"Then why do you know so much about him?"

"Why so curious, Frisk?"

"I... Want to know more about Sans... and you."

"Heh. I'll bite, Frisk. Even though you did so much shit, you still grew on me."

They winced. Chara had always told them to do whatever they wanted ever since their first encounter. They had been scared at first, so they dusted the monsters. Chara didn't really care about who they dusted... but as soon as they reached Snowdin, Chara changed. He told them to avoid the skeletons and spare them.

They didn't listen.

And from that moment onwards, Chara didn't appear before them. He only provides basic information when they used his powers to CHECK the Monsters. They found out why when they killed the smallest skeleton. They had turned away, but when they noticed that Chara didn't follow and had become tangible, they turned... only to see him cradle the slowly dusting skull, tears and snot covering his face as the skeleton tried to comfort him even at the Monster's last moments.

Their shoulders slumped. It was at that moment... Everything changed. But it was too late. The more EXP they earned, the more insane they became. It got harder to control themselves. They were having so much fun. So they murdered and experimented and RESET. Again. Again. Again. Again! Just to see other Monsters' reaction when they killed different Monsters each time. 

Back at the surface, they were never like this. They only had the power to LOAD back a few minutes at most. And once a day, maybe twice if they really pushed themselves. So they didn't have a big head. Their power wasn't that useful. They supposed that those sayings were true - absolute power corrupts absolute.

When they fell through the barrier, their LOADs became longer, and soon, they started having the power to RESET. Chara explained that the Underground's air was saturated with magic, so even their 'measly power could grow with epic proportions' (those were the ghost's words, anyway). However, it was only up to the point of their arrival in the Underground. It made them confident in their immortality. And those sins weren't erasable just because they decided to bring the Monsters out of the Underground and stop RESETing. 

They still remember everything they did.

Chara remembers.

Sans remembers.

...  _HE_ remembers.

"Sorry... Chara, I'm so sorry... I won't do it ever again. I won't let power corrupt me... Not ever again."

"Ugh. Whatever. You already apologized. Now do you want to know more about Sans or not?!"

Frisk looked up, a shy smile on their lips. They know that Chara, even though his EXP and LV was off the charts, was a kind person deep inside. He was something similar to a tsundere, and that was amusing as heck to Frisk. 

"Yep!"

"Hmph! I won't tell you everything. Just the basics."

"Okay!"

"Let's start with... He wasn't always a stinky lazybones. He cooks healthy meals for his family and was more like a mother than a brother. He does chores diligently - a concept foreign now since he leaves his socks everywhere - and sends his little brothers to school every day without fail. He also brings them to the park, showers them, and literally does everything that was expected from a single parent. All on his own. 'Cause his dad, heh, he's a dork. Very clumsy and unsuitable to handle children. Sometimes I wonder how Sans survived without getting his skull cracked open like an egg."

Chara snickered at the last line, causing Frisk to raise a brow. Probably some insider joke that they weren't being let into.

"Then... he changed. His family life was turned upside down at the disappearance of his dad, but that was one thing out of a hundred. It was a gradual process since I can remember time loops, but to others, it was overnight. He distanced himself, but he was still a mother hen and took care of his brothers. As they grew older, however... Hahaha... Flowey... Ahem, anyway, back then, when he made puns, jokes, and japes, it was to see others laugh and be happy. He loves it. But now? He uses it as a defence mechanism. Uncomfortable situation? Pun. Avoiding a topic? Pun. Wanting to be left alone? Pun. It's easier than telling others that you're depressed."

Chara's hand was patting the sentry station, dark tar-like liquid dripping down from his eyes and lips. It made Frisk uncomfortable and they had to look away.

"He also skipped grades. Like, literally skipped through all of them. He graduated with honours before he became an adult. He was hired as a Royal Scientist-"

"Wait, he was in Alphys's position?!"

They couldn't help but interrupt. That was something unexpected. Sans was a genius?! Furthermore, he was a scientist?! 

"No, retard. You know we refer to government positions as 'Royal whatever', right? Like the Royal Guards or the Royal Council or the Royal Consigliere. Etcetera etcetera."

"Huh? What's consigliere?"

"Whoops. I meant advisor. Royal Advisor. My bad."

"Oh. So Alphys is the Captain of the Royal Scientist?"

"Ugh... This is why I call you an imbecile on a daily basis. No. She's the **Head** of the Royal Scientists. But many mistaken her as simply a Royal Scientist because... Nobody else works as a scientist anymore."

"Eh? Why?"

Frisk sat on Sans's chair and made themselves comfortable. They would wait for the skeleton whilst listening to Chara's storytelling. 

"After the disappearance of the previous Head of the Royal Scientists, the leftovers lost motivation and quit. Nobody was good enough to take over the position, and Sans has an even more important role. Alphys was left. Asgore promoted her, but she was only qualified because she was the only scientist left. Sure she is a genius in robotics and invented many new things, but the previous Head... He was incredible. Years later, everyone all but forgot that there was even a position of HEAD. Just simply assumed it's THE Royal Scientist. You know, since she's the only one."

"Oh. That's... sad..."

"Nah. Everyone thinks it's an honour. Even she has forgotten about her old boss and teammates."

"But why? He created the CORE, the weather system, and literally structured the whole Underground? Shouldn't his name be in history books?"

"Yeah. He was a hero."

Chara gave a pointed look to not ask anymore. Frisk closed their mouth, unsatisfied but didn't want to upset their friend by pushing.

"But back to the story. Sans was hired as a part-time Royal Scientist. He needed to take care of his brothers more. And his father's income was more than enough to support their family. When he became an adult, the previous Judge stepped down from his position, and Sans was chosen."

"Why did Asgore choose him out so many others? His HP, ATK, and DEF are 1."

"He was chosen by lady magic, not Asgore. I don't quite know all the details, but enough to have a grasp of things. When I had been alive, I browsed through books after books due to my fascination with magic. I coincidentally stumbled across an old tome. Many of the words were erased by time, but I managed to pick it apart by what little information it gave. It described how lady magic chose her representative and name them her Judge. The Judge can be either human or Monster. The requirements were easy - they only needed to be powerful and just. The previous Judge was basically kicked out of the position because Sans's magic surpasses everyone else's."

"But shouldn't everyone be respectful of Sans, then? He was chosen by... basically a deity."

"Sans informed Asgore that he wished to keep his identity hidden. Asgore complied and soon, he became a part-time sentry and part-time Judge. He quitted his job as a scientist but still continued to study the subject. When others come to visit the Judge for the naming of their newborn or a ceremony of soul-bonding, Sans would wear a cloak to hide his identity. He even alters his voice by using a voice changer implemented in his mask."

"I didn't know he was that amazing... Though now I know why he was so hard to..."

Frisk didn't elaborate. They didn't need to.

"Heh. You're wrong."

"Huh?"

"Sans wasn't even giving you a taste of his full powers when fighting against you. He was exhausted. He hasn't slept for... Well, even I don't know. He takes naps, but not more than 10 minutes. I heard from Bo-uhm, his brothers, that nightmares were a common occurrence. So he avoids sleep like it's a plague. Basically, the reason why his ATK and DEF are so low is that he hasn't eaten, slept, or even taken care of himself. It's... pitiful to see how such a strong Monster could be reduced to such a state because some people decided that the power to control time was a toy."

His tone was sharp when he spat the last sentence, the black liquid running down his cheeks making him look eerie. Frisk couldn't help but flinch.

"Flowey broke him. You **s h a t t e r e d** him."

"I... I..."

They swallowed, their throat dry. They didn't know what to say.

"But that's in the past." He gave them a small smile, the liquid disappearing. "You can't just RESET to fix it because he remembers, but you can make it right. Let him know that there is a future waiting for him. The connections he makes with others won't be torn apart on a whim. If anyone deserves a chance in life... It's him. ~~And I'll finally be able to persuade Bones into courting that lazybones.~~ "

Frisk didn't quite catch what was said at the last part of his speech due to him whispering. They decided to ignore it and focus on the former part.

"Yeah...! I'll make sure to apologize properly and promise him that I will never RESET ever again."

Their eyes were filled with DETERMINATION as they said that. They almost SAVEd, but their gut rebelled. Or they were just hungry.

"What's wrong? Just SAVE already. If we move on and you die, we'll have to start all over again from departing with Nin."

"Sans is taking too long. I'll go look for him. I need a hot dog."

Frisk stood up. They retraced their steps. Destination: Sans's other station in Hotland. Maybe the skeleton was there? 

"What?! You're going to go back all the way?! Oh geez. Just reLOAD then. My god."

Chara complained all the way, with Frisk teasing the ghost about his short temper.

They both stopped their banter, however, when they saw the situation at hand. Nin was on her hands and knees, looking like she was... melting...

Frisk sprinted over, their knees skidded on the hard ground as they stopped by the kneeling Monster's side. They paid their bleeding knees no mind, having felt pain worse than these scratches. 

"Nin?! Sans, what's wrong with her?!"

They were hysteric and demanded an explanation from Sans, whose skeletal hands were hovering above the melting form of Nin.

* i-i don't know, kid. she suddenly started to...

Sans eyelights disappeared as beads of sweat were covering his skull. 

"FRISK! RELOAD! RELOAD NOW!"

Frisk snapped out of it when Chara's howling penetrated through their ears. He sounded crazed and his eyes were bloodshot. The black liquid running down his eyes and lips were thicker than anything they have seen before. Almost as if he was losing his form and turning into goop. 

"I'm going to... stop this. I'm sorry, Sans. Just..."

* kid... what're you-

"Don't worry. Just a short time skip."

* wait!

Frisk didn't pay any mind to Sans and jumped into the lava. Sans had an arm outstretched, his left eye socket flaring blue. They gave the skeleton a small smile of reassurance before everything **_BURNED_**.

 **LOAD**.

They rushed after Nin, quickly turning the corner but stopped when they saw her reading her nice cream wrapper. They waited, not knowing what to do.

"Don't spook her, Frisk. Just stand behind, but not too close. Then slowly insert yourself into her personal space so that she notices."

Their ghost friend stated, his voice strained. He was even floating around Nin worriedly. As if checking to see that she was not melting. Idly, Frisk wondered why Chara was so concerned about Nin - he did say that he did not know her well. 

So they waited and followed the ghost's advice.

When Nin turned, she paused in her steps.

"Didn't we just part, little one?"

"Can you accompany me to, at most, MTT resort, Nin nin? Please?"

"... Why?"

"I don't want you to melt."

"You fool! Don't you see she's looking uncomfortable?! Why did you blurt that out?! Imbecile!"

_Sorry, Chara! I panicked! What else can I say without getting killed?!_

"Excuse me?"

"Please."

Their eyes were filled with DETERMINATION.

"... Alright, kiddo. But you have a lot of explaining to do."

  **SAVE**.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we know that Chara really IS hitching a ride in Frisk. Such a sarcastic cutie <3
> 
> Thank you for your support and positive comments! It fills this writer with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯
> 
> P.S. HEHEHE! Three lines! You only get 3 lines, Sans! That's how much I don't want to write your dialogues! MWEH HEH HEH HEH!!!!
> 
> P.P.S. I made YET ANOTHER fic. It's called ' Packed with LOVE ' a HP/UT crossover. I needed to satisfy my cravings for blood, gore, torture, and killings... Eh, basically my dark side. Many other stories are too fluffy and I grew bored of reading technically the same things. Encounter Flowey, something's wrong, dodge or fight back, Toriel arrives... blablabla. So I added some few twists and bends! If you want to know, check my latest fic out![HERE](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13523889)  
> 


	14. The musings of things that weren't meant to be (˘⌒˘ )

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Again with the existential crisis.  
> Bones, why are you so emo...?  
> Or rather, why did I write him have so many darn issues?  
> I regret everything. Along with the fonts.
> 
> ... When exactly are we going to arrive on the surface?

Whilst Bones pretended to be unaffected by everything, he sauntered nonchalantly behind the fidgeting child, his body moving on autopilot as he pondered. Frisk had practically forewarned him of his demise in the previous timeline. He was glad that they LOADed to save him, but he felt conflicted at the information that spelt his death.

Maybe, just maybe, injecting DT directly into his soul was a bad idea...?

He quickly shook his head. No. He would not be deterred. If he melted, then so be it. He wanted, no, needed to remember the timelines.

In the fanfictions he read, the MC (was he even the MC? He was more similar to a side character or a cannon fodder mini-boss) always remembered. So why was he the odd one out? 

The memories of his past life were all in his noggin (apart from his name, apparently), therefore, by theory, he should be able to recall everything regarding the RESETs! 

Growing frustrated by the lack of answers, he sighed through his teeth and scratched at the crack on the back of his skull. 

"Nin? Nin?" He turned his sights towards the person who called him. "Are you alright? I'm sorry for dragging you away from your important appointment."

Behind his mask, his neutral skele-grin tilted further upwards. The child sounded anxious, but that was not what Bones found hilarious. It was their expression. It reminded Bones of the many times when his human self had been constipated. That was the exact same face he made when trying to push the hard stool out from his bowels. 

And... He was escaping reality again. Really, Bones? He never learns.

"It's fine, child. I'm simply... thinking. Pay my brooding no heed."

"O-ok... If you say so..."

"Fu fu fu. I insist."

Even though the child looked hesitant to comply, they did turn away from him and continued their journey towards MTT Resort. 

Bones went back to his thoughts. He felt suffocated at being left out, and unbearably small compared to the main characters - the Undertale gang. 

Flowey was the 'main antagonist' of the game. He misleads the players into thinking that to survive, they need to kill or BE killed. But what he mainly teaches the players at the end of the game differs greatly from what was expected. The players learn that the world is harsh and brutal, but even if others are being hurtful, there is no need to hurt them back. An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind. It would only be a never-ending cycle of hatred.

 _Compassion_.

Toriel was the motherly guardian at the tutorial stage. Players learnt the most important lesson from her... the virtues of nonviolence. Pacifism is constantly encouraged. FIGHTS could be resolved by communicating. The Monster and Human war could've been prevented if the humans did not let fear cloud their judgement. Misunderstandings can be rectified if the monarchs of that time had ACTed with MERCY rather than FIGHT due to fear.

 _Generosity_. 

Sans was the comic relief and the character that judges the player's every action. He makes the players laugh and enjoy the different experiences of the Underground peacefully. But as much as a comic Sans is, the most important thing the players learnt from him is that they have to be responsible for what they do. Every choice has their consequences. And with every good or bad decision, self-reflection is the key to knowing if an action is right or wrong.  

 _Responsibility_.

Papyrus was the goofy, yet utterly adorable cinnamon roll that everyone can't hate. He teaches others to be optimistic about life, to believe in themselves, and that everyone can be a good person if they try. He will always believe in the player, no matter what they do and which route they decide to take.

 _Confidence_.

Undyne was the hot-headed and sexy tough ~~guy~~ fish. She teaches the player that bulldozing into situations without really taking the time to understand it isn't really a smart idea. Your beliefs are your own, but pushing that onto others can be harmful. Everyone must learn to listen to what others say because their words are equally as important as anyone else's. Once someone gets to know the other person, maybe they'll even end up becoming good friends?

 _Sincerity_. 

Alphys was the awkward introvert with an extreme love for anime. She teaches the players that lies built upon lies will only end up crumbling. The truth may hurt, but telling lies would only bring harm to oneself and others. Accepting faults and mistakes make people stronger and strive for improvement. They'll be a better person eventually. 

 _Honesty_.

Agore... Well...

Bones snorted softly. He didn't quite care for Asgore as much as the other Undertale crew members. Mostly because his gameplay interactions with the king of Monsters were limited. The only thing Bones knew about Asgore was that he was burdened with the guilt of blood on his paws.

As much as he would like to sympathise with Asgore, Bones has always been indifferent towards strangers even in his previous life - much less a game character. He only cared for himself back then, and now, he only cares about those that are close to him. He knew that if he was in Asgore's shoes, he would've killed Chara without Toriel's and Asriel's knowledge. A king needed to be strong for his subjects, and Asgore was never meant to be king in Bones's mind.

Now that he lives in this ~~video game~~ world, he knew that his beliefs had been true. If Asgore had killed Chara and taken their soul, the Monsters would've already been freed from this prison of theirs before Flowey and Frisk had the chance to play God. Actually, Flowey wouldn't have existed because Alphys would not need to experiment with DETERMINATION. 

But since he was not reincarnated as Asgore, he was thankful that the king was so soft-hearted. If it were not for his kindness, Bones wouldn't have gotten the chance to become best friends with Chara.

Speaking of Chara...

Bones believed that the first fallen child was simply misunderstood in the game. Chara, to him, has been giving the players subtle hints to look for other options throughout the genocide runs. And because those hints were so subtle, many don't notice it. He only managed to be aware of this because he was a fan of experimenting with these genocide routes. At the end of the game, the dialogue was proof enough that Chara had given up on the player. 

> My "human soul"
> 
> My "determination"
> 
> They were not mine, but YOURS.

Every action the player took... Every EXP the player earned... Every Lv the player gained... None of it was done by Chara. It was "YOU". Had always been. Just like in this life. Chara has never forced any children human into dusting anybody. They were only a backseat passenger in the body - silently observing their host's actions, lending their knowledge and power in return for EXP. 

Bones closed his eyesockets. 

He felt heavy with defeat.

He was insecure about his existence and life.

What was his purpose in Undertale? Being a passerby A.

Then what should he be teaching the player? To Hack or gather information?

He was one of the skeleton brothers, but he was not part of the main Undertale cast. Was it because he was still considered a child by Monster society? But Monster Kid was 'somewhat' inside the gang, so Bones's age played no part in it.

Then was it because he simply did not exist in the player's eyes?

Or was it because his data had been erased before the games' release?

Or maybe it was because... he was simply not supposed to be here?

What if he was ruining the game?

What if his presence was changing many things that were not supposed to be changed?

Was he-

Bones's eyesockets immediately snapped open when he felt his phone - his private one - vibrate against his left femur. He couldn't quite help but feel immense relief. He almost went down that spiral of no return. Bless your soul, Papyrus, for nobody but him would have such godly timing. 

"-as been like this for awhile... I'm worried about her, Sans. What if she is affected by... You know..."

He did not move and kept his body unresponsive, but he was observing his surroundings. He was actually quite near to Sans, who was sitting behind his second sentry station in Hotland, and the kid was whispering not too soft words to the skeleton, their voice hitching due to nerves.

Bones decided that he needed to get out of here.

The phone, however, was now being a nuisance and preventing him from performing his usual disappearing acts. It kept vibrating loudly in his pocket, and apparently, was loud enough to attract the attention of Sans and Frisk. Perhaps he should've silenced it rather than setting it to vibrate mode, bruhs. Remind him next time, won't you, imaginary audience members in his head?  

With one quick swoop, he retrieved his phone and hid it beneath his hood, directly where his ears were supposed to be located had he been human. The mask was pushed slightly outwards so that his voice would be normal for the caller, but still remained scrambled for the other two idiots clearly eavesdropping. 

If he did not answer, his dear brother would be calling non-stop. And besides, this would be a great excuse to leave. Sorry, bro, but using people was the norm for him. 

"Hel-"

"NYEHLLO?! LITTLE BROTHER! WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER IMMEDIATELY? WAIT, NEVERMIND THAT. MY GUT HAS BEEN FEELING QUITE UNHAPPY FOR THE PAST THIRTY MINUTES OR SO. DO YOU MIND BUYING SOME MEDICINE ON YOUR WAY BACK FROM SCHOOL, IMPACT DEAR? THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOES NOT WISH TO BOTHER YOU, BUT THIS FEELING HAS BEEN BOTHERING ME TENACIOUSLY!!!"

Bones swallowed what he really wanted to say and replied with an even tone. He can't break out of Nin's character, but if he was too formal, Papyrus would find it odd and question him. Better to keep his answers neutral and hope for the best.

"Ok. I'll be there soon."

Bruhs... He just needed to ask. When do skeletons grow guts? When they need to ask someone out, of course! Ke ke ke ke ke!!!

"WOWIE! THANK YOU, DEAREST LITTLE BROTHER! THE GREAT PAPYRUS SHALL AWAIT YOUR RETURN!! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!"

The second Papyrus hanged up, Bones secured his mask's placement and pocketed the phone hurriedly, not wanting Sans to spot his noticeable phone cover.

"Well, as you've heard, little one, you'll have to excuse me. I really must leave with haste."

"B-but...!"

They immediately rushed towards Bones and gripped onto his humerus, their expression anxious and fearful.

"I truly must go, child. Although I am apologetic for leaving you shortly after agreeing to accompany you, this is rather important and must be attended to swiftly. How about I meet up with you at the MTT Resort after my errand?"

He patted the kid's head before prying off their fingers. They were probably worried about him melting, but he wasn't going to Alphys's lab now. Papyrus was alone and 'not feeling well', so he must take care of his brother. 

"P-promise?"

"If I am not able to make it, please stay a night and I'll be there the following day. Now, I must really be leaving. Have a good day, child. And you too, Mr. sentry."

The skeleton, which Bones had been expecting to jump at him, only waved a bony hand lazily.

Was Sans not feeling up to it today? What unexpected good luck! 

Without further ado, he rushed off towards the Riverperson, not once looking back. The second he reached the transport boat, he murmured a robotic 'waterfall' as he hopped in.

The cloaked figure nodded slightly and no sooner than that, the boat started to move on its own. 

As soon as they were far enough and away from prying eyes, Bones removed his mask and stealth wear, not at all minding the other Monster, and was quick to replace his outfit with his school's uniform and a windbreaker. 

As for why Bones wasn't at all worried about his identity being compromised...

"Do you have any updates, Kharon bruh?"

... The other Monster was his left-hand man. 

Bones spoke as soon as he was decently dressed. The cloaked Monster at least acted with the utmost decorum, not peeking as he changed - unlike a certain someone who shall not be named  ~~ahemMuffetahem~~.

Kharon, or commonly known as Riverperson to the folks here, turned to face Bones as the boat came to a steady stop. They have yet to reach the Waterfall's 'taxi stand', but it was better to keep their conversations private. The walls have ears. That was one of the many reasons behind why Bones always dropped off before actually reaching the designed destination when returning from his Nin persona. 

Whilst his imaginary audience might wonder why he chose Kharon as his left-hand man, the answer was pretty obvious if one truly thinks about the cloak's Monster occupation. The only one in the Underground. 

Many people, often than not, forget that when riding a ~~taxi~~  public transportation, their conversations were not exactly private. The driver's presence was simply disregarded. For Kharon, however, it was worse. He was literally air to his passengers. Maybe it was due to his habit of spouting nonsense. Bones still didn't know if that was intentional or not.

So Kharon was perfect for his position as Bone's _other_ number two within his organization that mainly deals with information. The man was second only to him. Whilst his right-hand was talented at gathering facts from idle chatter, Kharon's occupation allows him to eavesdrop on private meetings without actually needing to sneak about. A privilege granted to no one else but the guy who transport Monsters from one location to another. Thus why Bones wanted the boatman in his Net no matter what.

Also, it took ages to befriend this crazy bastard. Recruiting him was worse, bruh. So much worse.

Worth it, though. 

"Tra la la~ Discreet Stalker rode my boat and met Blue Spear half-way~ They talked about... many things whilst ignoring this humble river person~"

Bones snorted unintentionally when he heard the Monster calling himself that. That was definitely the reason why others thought his name was Riverperson.

"What did they talk about, bruh? Does it involve the Net? I found out from Iced that they were seen at location D, but details' ain't clear." 

"They're not very discreet in their schemes at all~ Why did you name her Discreet Stalker, I wonder?~ Tra li li~"

"Ok, fine. I'm in a hurry so I'll bite this time. What do you want in exchange for telling me everything about their plans?"

"The usual~"

"... No."

"Really?~ Are you sure?~ Tra la la~ You won't regret refusing?~ I would~"

"Ugh... You calculative little...! Damn the stars! Alright. Deal. Whatever. This information better be worth it."

Bones refused to acknowledge the warmth flooding his cheekbones and the purplish light bouncing off the water's surface. 

"Thank you for your patronage, leader~ Tre le le~"

"I don't feel like your leader at all..." 

He grumbled with a pout. Kharon either didn't hear him or ignored his words altogether. The latter, if Bones read the other's body language correctly.

"I suggest spreading the word to vacate HQ, leader. The hounds will be swarming the area soon - maybe tonight, even, if Blue Spear is not otherwise occupied by the human."

The seriousness in Kharon's voice alarmed Bones. The Monster was always playful, but he cares for the Net greatly. Everyone in his organization contributed in their own ways to keep the Net strong. 

"Impossible! The HQ's location should be foolproof! I made sure to check every week."

"It seems we have an infestation of rats, leader. And all of them have been with us for quite a number of years. I'm unsure of why they became turncoats, but the fact that they did are enough to get them _**k i l l e d  v i c i o u s l y**_ once word gets out to our brothers and sisters."

"How sure are you of this, Kharon?"

"A hundred percent. Blue Spear was foolish enough to speak of the rogues, and even gave out those swines' names before Discreet Stalker managed to pacify Spear's excitement." From the shadows of Kharon's hood, sharp, white fangs could be seen. The man was grinning dementedly, a tongue swiping out to lick his pearly whites hungrily. "Will you allow me to fetch? I promise not to hurt them... too much."

"They **d a r e d**...!"

Bones snarled, his eyelights changing into purple rectangles. He almost threw a massive tantrum if not for the two arms suddenly wrapped around his torso. The hands stroking his spine managed to calm his magic and he took this chance to close his eyesockets.

A few deep breaths later - the smell of the ocean's breeze from his friend's body soothing him - and his fists gradually stopped their trembling. At least he didn't destroy the boat in a fit of anger - he saw Kharon threatening to castrate Aaron once when that musclehead flipped the boat over whilst flexing.

Now that his emotions were in control, he tapped the Monster's arm and stepped back. Kharon was almost as tall as Papyrus, so Bones only reached his chest's level. He tilted his skull upwards and gave his left-hand man a deranged grin.

"Luckily for us, Blue Spear has always been loose with her tongue. An imbecile of the highest degree. I find it simply hilarious that she's a captain. Hmph, hunt these defectors and bring them to me, Kharon. I won't mind you breaking a limb or two to prevent their futile attempts of escaping, but do ensure that they're minds remain intact. I'll want to be there when you, ah, interrogate them." 

"By your command."

The cloaked Monster straightened his back and raised an arm horizontally in front of his chest, fist clenched, as he grinned sharply, obeying Bones's order eagerly.

"For now, secure them at our safe house in NH. Oh, and contact Sticky Surprise to send word to everyone that our HQ has been compromised. My men are not brainless enough to be caught by those witless mutts if I have anything to say about it."

"Already did~"

Kharon singsonged as he relaxed.

"... You cunning piece of shite."

A crazed giggle from the Monster proved to Bones that even if he had refused their deal, this information would still have been given to him on a golden platter. 

"Is there anything else, bruh?"

He rolled his eyelights and pocketed his hands. He idly wondered if the school was out yet.

"Tra la la~ Beware of constantly smiling individuals~ They aren't what they seem~"

"I'll take that as a no. Thanks for the info, bruh."

Bones hopped down from the boat and watched as it drifted away, the Riverperson singing his odd song without seemingly acting out of the norm. Who knew that an insane killer was hiding beneath that playful and mysterious exterior? 

He found it amusing that majority of his subordinates were eccentric in their personalities. It never was boring when he spent the day unwinding in the HQ's lounge, listening to all of them joke around or prank one another - of course, all were wearing individual masks and using codenames. Bones also made sure he wasn't in his Nin getup. Everyone would've been too stiff otherwise. Just like how Nick the nice cream dude became twitchy with Nin, his other subordinates would too. 

Making sure to visit Gerson for stomach medicine, the old man looking at him funny when he made his purchase, Bones walked home without rushing. Sometimes, one just needed to admire the beautiful view of Waterfall whilst passing through. It was worth the long trip. 

When he finally made it back home, however, he noticed that Papyrus was not alone.

Frisk, who was supposed to be at MTT Resort, or at least on the way there, was sitting on the couch with Sans... who was supposed to be working right now. Even Undyne was here, currently in the kitchen with Papyrus, judging by all the yelling.

What. The. Fuck. Bruh?

Again, he felt bitter at having been left out. It was unreasonable, definitely, but Bones couldn't help it. Now he wanted nothing more than to slip past everyone and just sleep the day away. 

The door, or the world in general, must've been against his plans because the second it clicked to a close, a skull popped out from the kitchen. Papyrus, with his otherworldly hearing, immediately spotted him standing awkwardly at the entrance.

"WELCOME HOME, BABYBONES. ARE YOU HUNGRY? MASTER CHEF PAPYRUS HAS COOKED FRIENDSHIP SPAGHETTI WITH UNDYNE FOR THE HUMAN. AUDIBLE GASP! I FORGOT TO INFORM YOU, IMPACT, THAT THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS MANAGED TO CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEY EVEN ASKED ME OUT ON A DATE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH. BUT... AFTER OUR WONDERFUL DATE, I HAD TO GENTLY AND SORROWFULLY TURN DOWN THE HUMAN, BECAUSE I HAVE ANOTHER THAT I LIKE! I FEEL BAD FOR HURTING THEIR FEELINGS, BUT ALAS, MANY WILL FEEL THE PAIN OF LOSING THE CHANCE TO DATE SUCH A COOL SKELETON LIKE ME. NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!"

Bones listened to the tallest skeleton attentively whilst he shrugged off his school bag and placed it beside their pet rock. 

"I'm home, bruh. Yep. Wow, that's great. I'm sure they'll understand that not everyone can date the great Papyrus. You're the coolest bruh."

He made sure to rub the soles of his boots against the doormat that has the words 'i like it dirty' written in comic sans, before entering the house.

Papyrus must've decided that he was too slow, however, because he was scooped up halfway and carried into the kitchen, where Undyne was bashing the tomatoes like they had offended her entire eighteen generations of family.

She stopped after a few seconds and turned, a twinkle in her eye. 

"Sup, punk! Hope you're hungry!"

"Am starving, Undyne bruh. Uh, Papy? You can put me down now."

"NYOH!"

Bones wasn't blushing. Not at all. Nope. His skull was as white as the rest of his bones and his expression was neutral. He wasn't lying. Really.

The captain of the Royal Guards was giving him a shit eating grin as she crossed those muscular arms over her equally muscular chest. 

Papyrus, having responded with a negative, was busy with giving Bones's skull skele kisses - meaning he was currently resting on Papyrus's iliac crest and was being held and pampered like a babybones. 

Noooooo. Not in front of Undyne! She would be unbearable afterwards...

"I knew it! What a spoilt brat. FUHUHUHUHU!!"

Screw that. She was already irritating enough!

"Ain't spoilt, fish face." 

"Tell me that when you're not being cuddled to death. Aww ish wittle Impact angwy? Who's a good boy? Who's a goooooood baby bones? That's you. That's youuuu. D'awwwww."

If Bones was a human, a vein would've popped out from his temples at having been 'baby talked'. But since he was not human, he bared his teeth. As soon as that walking sushi was within range, he would bite her to hell and back! 

In the back of his mind, inner Bones was flipping tables and throwing needles at a mega-sized picture of Undyne. On the outside, he took a deep, calming breath.

Then he struggled with all his might. 

"NYEH! W-WAIT. STOP, IMPACT. YOU'LL HURT YOURSE-"

He slipped out from Papyrus's hold and fell skull first onto the floor.

Kill him now.

He felt like bursting from utter humiliation. 

Please, floor, open up and eat him whole.

Just how did he fuck up so badly? He was supposed to be a master spy. A modern ninja. A person with cat-like balance. So how did he fuck up today so badly? 

Bones was picked up and repositioned back onto the tallest skeleton's hip, a disapproving frown on the other's skull.

"UNDYNE! STOP BULLYING IMPACT. YOU KNOW HE GETS EMBARRASSED EASILY."

"Do not..."

"The punk had it coming. NGGAAAAAHHHH!!!! You are too lenient with him, Papyrus! Did you know he skipped school today?!"

"SHH! UNDYNE SHUSH! DON'T SAY THAT LOUDLY. SANS WILL HEAR."

* i'll hear what?

"NYEH?! OH, BROTHER. ARE YOU HUNGRY? YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT FOR A LITTLE LONGER, THOUGH. WE'RE STILL PREPARING."

* sure thing paps. do you mind coming closer?

"WHAT IS IT, SANS?"

* impact. i just received a phone call from your teacher. do you know why? 

Fucking great. Sans would usually give no crap when Bones skips school, but today was different. Sans specifically informed Bones to not play hooky. So he quickly hid his face in Papyrus's battle body, not wanting to look at Sans. 

"I don't know, bruh. Did you answer it?"

* ... obviously?

"Then you should know why, bruh. Why are you asking me? I wasn't the one who answered."

* don't get smart with me!

"But you answered your own-"

"BROTHER...! WHY DON'T YOU AND IMPACT HEAD UPSTAIRS. THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR, UH, SUCH DISCUSSIONS. I WILL CALL YOU ONCE DINNER IS PREPARED."

Bones quickly gripped Papyrus's humerus tightly. He was not letting go.

He hated it when Sans was in parent-mode. It made Bones feel like garbage - to be in love with someone who literally raised him since he was a babybones was disgusting. And they were even blood-related. Uh, magic related. Ugh, whatever. They were related.

* my room. now.

The kitchen was silent, and Bones didn't want to check if Sans had taken a shortcut or if he was waiting for the youngest to follow.

"Woah. I didn't know Sans could be so... What's the word I'm looking for...? Strict? Serious? Not Sans-like? I've always thought that you are the one who disciplines your little brother, Papyrus."

"WELL, SANS IS THE OLDEST. SO, OF COURSE, HE IS IN CHARGE WHEN IT COMES TO OUR EDUCATION."

Bones was gently put down on the floor, but he kept clinging onto Papyrus.

"No."

"LITTLE BROTHER... YOU SHOULD NOT MAKE HIM WAIT ANY LONGER."

"No."

"You brat! Just go already!"

The brute of a woman snatched him away from his safe haven and carried him like he was a sack of potatoes.

"Undyne! You...! Let go of me you muscle-headed idiot!"

"Get WRECKED, punk!"

He was then thrown into Sans's bedroom. The door was slammed directly in his face.

Ah, he did not dare turn around. The air just got colder. Oh, god of curses, please burn Undyne along with her house the next time she cooks on her own.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unexpectedly, the Riverperson is Bones's left-hand man?! Wow, how did he manage to recruit a Monster who swore neutrality back then during the war?
> 
> I love writing Undyne. She's awesome. 
> 
> Thank you for your support and positive comments! It fills this writer with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯
> 
> P.S. I'm getting used to editing fonts. (TuT) It's a bittersweet feeling.


	15. geeettttttt dunked on!!! ☚(ﾟヮﾟ☚)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> -takes out a microphone and raps- ♬♪◙▒◙(￣、￣ )♫♩
> 
> knock knock. Get ready to answer.  
> knock knock. Forget about your manners.  
> knock knock. Keep 'em from advancin', it's our last stand, to the death I will defend it.  
> knock knock. Barricade the doors.  
> knock knock. The ceilings and the floors.  
> knock knock. If you want a WAR... Step into my house and we're gonna GIVE YOU MOR-
> 
> ...Wait. Wrong game. Undertale is all about talking things out. Meh, how boring.  
> -throws microphone-

Now what?

Oh!

Wow. That tornado sure is weird. How was it self-sustained again? Wonder what's in it? 

Hmm... Socks. Books. Garbage. Dog.

Eh, did he have any dog biscuits in his inventory?

* well? aren't you gonna face me?

Too bad. No biscuits anywhere, bruhs.

* impact. 

Ah, maybe the dog would like some bones?

* impact...

He should pop by Papy's room and get a few bone attacks to let the dog play with.

With his mind made up, he reached for the doorknob...

* impact serif esqueleto!

His whole frame rattled. 

Sans's voice was louder than wholly necessary. He wasn't deaf, ya know? And bruh, why his full name of all things? He hated it since it was uncreative and seriously weird.

Oh, how about this! For those imaginary audience members in his head, shall he give a quick lesson about his family? Sounds good? Excellent! 

Sans's full name is actually Comic Sans Esqueleto. Even though his first name is Comic, nobody calls him that because that would be just comical, eyyy?

Papyrus's is Papyrus Ankh Esqueleto. Bones suspect that his middle name was created due to the origin of his first name. Luckily, whoever named them wasn't so daft as to name him Papyrus Paper Esqueleto. That would've been absolutely hilarious.

Esqueleto, if directly translated to English, means Skeleton. Very unoriginal. And people don't even notice that Sans was _technically_ telling his full name whenever he greets a new pal. 

* if i have to tell you to turn around one more time, impact, i swear to stars i will spank you right there and then.

THAT caused him to quickly face Sans, spine against the door as his cheekbones stained purple. He ducked his head, hoping that his hood would shadow the damn blush. 

He did not need any interesting _reaction_ to occur if his eldest brother ~~spanks~~ disciplines him. That would be humiliating and downright inappropriate. He would rather face the music! 

* now that wasn't so bad, was it?

He grunted.

* i expect a verbal answer, impact.

"Yes, sir..."

* excellent. now, explain why you decided to skip school. 

"I had better things to do?"

* and what could be more important to a kid than to go to school?

"Ain't a kid..."

* your behaviour speaks otherwise. 

"..."

* well?

"You've never minded me skipping before."

* that was then. now is now. any other reason why you tossed my words away like it's trash?

"I didn't... I just don't like school."

* oh, you did, impact. you definitely did. and tough luck. everyone hates school. yet we still have to attend it. any more excuses?

_'I discovered a weird entry, that was apparently written by another me, in my book and it told me to go to Alphys's lab and get my soul injected with DT.'_

"No..."

* very well. you're grounded.

That made Bones snap his head up, his eyelights shivering in dread. He couldn't get grounded now! His Net needed their leader to fight off the Royal Guards! 

"Sans! I'm not a kid anymore! You can't just ground me!"

* i already did, **k** **i d**. you're not allowed out of the house unless you get permission from me - and that means papyrus's doesn't count.

"T-then what about school?"

* heh. hilarious. you're anxious about missing school? as if. but don't worry. i already informed your teacher that you won't be attending anytime soon.

"You can't just expect me to remain indoors until you deem it okay for me to go out!"

* i ain't that much of a bully. you'll follow me to my sentry jobs.

Fuck no!

That would mean that Sans would, without reservation, be keeping an eye socket on him indoors and outdoors!

Hell, no, bruh.

"No. I don't want to. I'd rather stay home with Papy."

* not up for debate.

"You can't do this to me..."

* then you should've **l i s t e n e d**. when i tell you to do something, you do it.

"You can't decide what I can or can't do. Heh. Do you think I'll eat shite just because you say so?! You're not the boss of me! You're not even my parent, Sans! You're just a brother! Or BOTHER right now."

* you disrespectful little...!

"What?! What am I, Sans?!"

* ENOUGH! i've had enough of your attitude! you're grounded and that's final. you're going to remain home with me, as well as follow me on my jobs. i'm also confiscating your phone and computer. 

"I... I... I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU I HATE YOU I HATE YOU! Why are you even here?! Why must you always bring everyone's mood down with your stupid depression?! Don't you think we've already had enough gloom Underground?! Fuck you and your hypocritical scoldings! Hah. You must hate taking care of me, the damn troublemaker of a brother who can't even do anything right. If I was gone, you would be happy, wouldn't you? I wish... I wish it was only me and Papyrus! I don't want you as my brother...!!!" 

He panted, ribcage heaving up and down heavily as his eyelights blazed erratically.

He knew he was making things worse, but he couldn't stop himself. Every word was like a knife, stabbing and hurting. The more he yelled, the more he hated himself for saying such things. Yet he continued on and on, those cruel and hurtful words that made him want to slap himself in the face being spat out like a machine gun.

Sans didn't deserve to be treated like this. Sans didn't deserve this at all. Sans didn't need any more problems. ~~Bones should've killed himself before this happened.~~

He regretted ever talking back. 

Everything was his anger and frustration speaking. Every word he shouted... was what he wanted the two other skeletons to say to him. So that he could get the confirmation needed to... just end everything. 

But there was one truth in that entire _speech_ of his. He truly did wish that they weren't related. It would've been less revolting if he didn't need to pretend that all of his feelings for the stout skeleton was platonic. 

Bones was quick to flee, not once noticing the pained expression on Sans's face, too caught up in his own self-loathing to notice how much he had hurt the other. How selfish he had been. 

He ran down the stairs and headed straight for the door (needed to get away before he hurt Sans further), making sure to elbow the human on their head whilst he passed by the couch. No offence to Frisk, but he blamed it all on the kid that Sans was here and not at work. 

He made sure that the door was slammed with all his strength, his magic even helping him, and was satisfied when he heard the wood splintering. 

The run to the Riverperson's expected docking area was filled with an unpleasant feeling squeezing inside his ribcage. He panted as he came to a stop, more emotionally exhausted than physically. 

Bones searched through his pockets for one of Papyrus's encouragement sticky notes, only to cuss loudly when he couldn't find it. He must've dropped it when he wasn't paying attention. How he wished he could use blue magic to make the note heavier - so that it would remain in his pocket... But nooooo~ His magic was fucking handicapped because he was a failure of a monster! 

With frustration building up, he punched a nearby tree, watching with satisfaction as a hole the shape of his fists appeared. 

"Tra la la~ I love to ride in my boat~ Would you care to join me?~"

He huffed out and stomped towards the Riverperson. It was eerie at times when Kharon simply appears without any warning. Not unlike Sans, but he was used to his brother's shortcuts and he doubts Kharon was able to manipulate the void. 

"Where will we go today?~"

"Waterfall."

"Then we're off~"

Their journey was silent, and it was only when they left Snowdin did Bones speak.

"Go to New Home, Kharon. I need to prepare for our confrontation with the Guards."

"Alright, leader~" The boat's speed wasn't as fast as it usually was. That indicated that Kharon wanted to talk. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

He lowered his eyelights as his phalanges dipped into the water. 

"One, or both, of your brothers would be there."

"I don't expect Sans to be there, but he is too unpredictable for me to be sure. Papyrus... Yeah, definitely. He's the one who plans shite for the Royal Guards. Without him, everyone else would've been clueless about our activities."

"A formidable foe indeed~ As expected from the Esqueleto family~"

"Makes me wonder what you truly know about us."

"I do know, leader, that you're in a bad mood because you didn't call me 'bruh' once~"

"Observant."

"As would be expected from my side-occupation~"

"Heh. True, Kharon... bruh. Quite true."

"Do you want to talk about it?~"

"... Nah. Doesn't matter. Just something silly. Ah, and before I forget - after this, you'll have to take over for a while."

"Hm~ Alright~ At least you didn't choose Sticky Surprise this time~"

"Once was more than enough, thank you very much. It was chaotic when I returned. I had tons of paperwork to cover up for the damages she caused."

"Just because she's your right-hand doesn't mean she's fit to look after the Net."

"Oh, my? Do I hear jealousy, Kharon?"

"Why should I be jealous of such a retarded woman?~ Although I do not understand why her rank is higher than mine."

"You both are on the same level."

"I'm 3rd. She's 2nd."

"You're so adorable like this, Kharon bruh!"

Bones jump-tackle the spluttering cloaked Monster, a wide grin on his skull. 

"I-I am not a-adorable!"

"Ke ke ke ke! You're blushing! Awww!"

"I am not!"

"You do know that since I'm shorter, I can see under your hood, especially in this position we're in?"

"Tsk. Yeah yeah. You're the only one who knows what I look like. Shocker."

"Hey, ain't my fault you were careless that one time. Man, bruh, you look good in -"

"Not. Another. Word. We don't talk about it. It never happened. Period."

"Alright, alright. But on a serious note. You both technically do have the same rank. Neither of you has superiority over the other. The only reason why I call you my left-hand man is because she is not as subtle as you are. I need a person who I trust to deal with things that aren't meant to be dealt with in the open. Do you understand, Kharon? I need my left-hand as much as my right."

"Of course~"

Their discussion dissolved into a comfortable silence, with Kharon humming softly whilst Bones sat in the Moster's lap, leaning against the firm chest.

Sometimes, he wished moments like this would never come to an end. But life was never meant to happen without its ups and downs. So in order to bask in these peaceful moments more often, Bones closed his eye sockets as he hummed alongside Kharon, the Undertale OST 'Memory' bringing him nostalgia and good memories.

* * *

 He stood on the makeshift stage - two stacked tables - as he stared at his subordinates. All of them were present, their masks looking fierce and they all wore a crimson cloak with the Net's insignia brooched. 

Soon, it would be time to ambush those ambushers. Those herbivores could never hunt down his carnivores. 

"Fu fu fu. Brothers and sisters. I am overjoyed at your attendance on such short notice. I'm sure you are all curious as to what had happened for us to willingly abandon our HQ. It has been brought to my attention... that everyone should know why. Well, we have been compromised due to traitors."

The crowd instantly became agitated, howling insults and uttering death threats. 

"Now, now. Calm yourselves. I understand your justified anger, truly, I do. Nevertheless, they aren't here. Yet. Sticky Surprise has eyes on them, so expect a festival after our war with the Royal Guards. We don't want to tip them off now, do we? Fu fu fu."

Many were whistling and others cheering. Everyone was feeling excitement at the prospect of a _farewell_ _party_ , and the anticipation for the upcoming fight was burning through their veins. His Net was split into many different factions, the main, of course, was intelligence collection, but other than that... his members were mostly made out of battle-crazed savages. He was the king of the underworld in this Underground, so of course, dirty workings were included. 

Ah, he loved them all. The desire to wreak havoc was within their souls, hidden and only able to appear when they don their masks.

"Heh. The Royal Guards have set up an _ambush_  - surrounding our HQ to raid at a moment's notice. Too bad for them, however, I got wind of their actions. They must truly be masochists. This is war, my dears, we will show them that we aren't to be messed with once and for all. Now, gear up, brothers and sisters. We have a date with death."

Everyone bursts into action at his words, cleaning their weapons and discussing strategies. 

Bones hopped off the stage, satisfied. The Monsters gathered here weren't afraid of being dusted - a majority of them were even veterans of the human/monster war. There was a strong sense of camaraderie amongst his ranks, so the news of there being traitors was a huge blow to them. Everyone was family here. Everyone was accepted regardless of their faults. 

They might be killers, but they weren't unreasonable. His organization has a few simples rules, and they even helped to bring crime rates to an almost non-existent figure (outside of his Net's, of course). 

> 1\. The leader's words are law.
> 
> 2\. No fighting within the ranks.
> 
> 3\. No dusting without the approval of the leader or underbosses.
> 
> 4\. No civil/faction wars.
> 
> 5\. No disrespecting of another's job within the organization. 
> 
> 6. Do not interfere with another's mission.
> 
> 7. Family loyalty.
> 
> 8. Everyone must watch each's others back. 
> 
> 9. All missions must go through, and be approved by the faction heads, underbosses, and the leader.
> 
> 10\. Respect the code of silence. 

The organization also has quite the number of factions, and their members have initials on their insignia to inform others that they belong to which. 

But he would explain those to his imaginary audience another day.

For now, it was time.

"Let's go, boys and girls."

" **YES, LEADER!!!!** "

His loyal members marched out of their new HQ, the completely isolated location helping them away from any prying eyes. And maybe because he bought the whole neighbourhood here ~~(though why do the surrounding neighbourhoods feel so empty?)~~. But details. 

Kharon, currently wearing the Net's crimson cloak and a white mask with the letter P on it, was already waiting for them at the river's edge. He had his back against a massive submarine that was half-submerged, looking far too cool to the ladies in his org, judging by a few love-struck sighs he heard. Bones mused at how mysterious the Monster's boat was - to be able to transform into any form of transportation at Kharon's will.

Meh, no use being curious. The man loves his secrets. 

"Everything in place, Pluto?"

"All green."

"Fantastic. All on board."

Bones watched as everyone trickled into the submarine in an orderly manner, their bodies vibrating with blood-thirst and malice.

Ah, what a sight. So beautiful. It brings tears to his sockets when he sees how much his Net has grown.

Just as he was about to board the submarine with Kharon, Asgore's castle shook as if there was an earthquake, and since it was just beside their new HQ (what better way to hide than under their noses?), it almost caused Bones to lose his balance. Sometimes, his heeled boots were pretty inconvenient. His trusty left-hand man held Bones's shoulder whilst the rest of his loyal members looked out from the submarine's windows. 

It lasted for a minute or two. 

Bzzt.

The personal phone buzzed (he forgot to put it on silent mode again wtf). He took it out and sighed with resignation when he saw that it was Papyrus. The middle of the skelebros should now be at the Net's abandoned HQ, preparing to ambush them. So why was he calling? 

Too curious to resist, Bones lifted the bottom part of his mask and brought the phone to his skull.

He held out a hand and gestured for Kharon to cover him from the peeping members of his organization. The Monster complied without a word.

"Paps? If you're calling because of my fight with Sans-"

"NYOH! AS MUCH AS I DISAPPROVE OF YOU RUNNING OUT OF THE HOUSE BEFORE DINNER AND AFTER AN ARGUMENT, THIS IS NOT ABOUT SANS. THE HUMAN HAS MANAGED TO BREAK THE BARRIER!! ISN'T THIS WONDERFUL?!"

"... What?"

"I SAID, LITTLE BROTHER, THAT THE HUMAN HAS BROKEN THE BARRIER! WE CAN NOW GO TO THE SURFACE! WHERE ARE YOU? I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL ESCORT YOU TO SEE THE SUNSET. SANS SAYS YOU WON'T ANSWER HIS CALLS SO I HAVE TO BE THE ONE."

_What about the ambush?! The raid?! Papyrusssssss?!!?!?!? Don't keep the Net hanging here!!!!!_

"I-I see... Uh, I'm, uh, actually at the town in New Home."

"SPLENDID! SANS! SANS! HELP ME INFORM HIS MAJESTY THAT I WILL BE FETCHING OUR BROTHER."

* sure thing, bro. we'll wait for you here. besides, the kid said that they needed to get someone first.

"MEET ME AT THE CASTLE'S ENTRANCE, DEAR BROTHER!"

"... Alright..."

The call ended and he quickly kept his phone whilst adjusting his mask.

He turned to Kharon. Before he could manage to inform their change of plans, his right-hand woman came running over, her cloak billowing intimidatingly behind of her. 

"Leader! I lost all visuals on Blue Spear and Shadow King! My darlings had somehow been lured into a pit full of... uhm, they ate something and now they're all asleep. And my talkie and phone are missing!"

"Must be Shadow King, huh?~ You just got tricked by that bonehead~ What a muppet~"

"Ahuhuhu... What did you just call me, you boat humper?"

"Oh, I just called you a muppet~ But maybe being called a depraved paedophile is better for people like you~"

"You piece of sh-!"

"Enough, children. We have other urgent matters to speak about. Call off the raid."

"Wh-what?! But my pet is ready to consume those stingy guards!"

"Sorry, Sticky Surprise, but nobody would be there, anyway. Pluto. I need you to inform the Net that the barrier has been broken and to get back to their homes ASAP. I suspect that Asgore will be making a royal announcement soon enough. If any of them are late or missing, it'll be suspicious. Especially when Papyrus is with him... That mind of his is truly terrifying."

"Wait WHAT?! The barrier's broken?! Ahem! I meant... yes, leader~"

"Make haste."

With that, Bones turned on his heels and ran towards the edge of the neighbourhood, where a small nondescript house was located. This was a private safe house that only he and his two underbosses knew about - in case they needed a quick change of clothing or a place to rest alone. 

A minute later and he was in his usual purple and black striped turtleneck, followed by a windbreaker that covers any and all evidence that he was still a child in Monster sense. He toed off his heeled boots in favour of a wedge one. 

With the speed that came with training his body daily, he was soon at the castle's entrance, waiting for his brother that would be here in maybe less than a minute - the tall skeleton always has godly timing.

So whilst he waits, he pinched the bone in between his sockets, trying to prevent the heartache from spreading. 

Fuck... He was prepared to go into war with the Royal Guards - to battle to the death. But fucking hell. Papyrus wasn't even going to bother being there. And that meant Undyne won't appear. And if Undyne wasn't there, why would her mutts be there?!

Did... Did Bones just get dunked on? By the fucking barrier? No, wait. he was dunked on by the human, Frisk. Fucking hell. 

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heh. That 'whatever' attitude when drawing the tables... Maybe I shouldn't have uploaded that LOL.
> 
> Now, we're finally going to the surface. YAY. Unexpectedly, though. Very... unexpected. I was actually going to write about the Royal Guards vs the Net... but... eh, my fingers have their own minds. ಠ_ರೃ Maybe my inner pacifist has finally made a re-appearance?! 
> 
> Thank you for your support and positive comments! It fills this writer with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯  
> P.S. I think this is the most I edited. And the sad thing? After I edited the fonts, I 'reviewed' the chapter as a reader just in case I missed anything. My eyes hurt so much from reading Impact's font. It's so depressing... I should've named him Times New Roman or something easier on the eyes. (┛◉Д◉)┛彡┻━┻


	16. The sun! Finally! It... looks the same as last time (≖͞_≖̥)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The surface. Everyone is ecstatic!!!  
> ... Nearly everyone, anyway.
> 
>   **Blatant advertising: Please try reading my latest fic[Your 'hateful' Neighbours](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13782981)**

Bones was limp in his brother's arms, his skull tucked shyly underneath the other's mandible. Due to the way Papyrus walked, the rocking motion (it was a mixture of floating in the air and swaying on a boat) made Bones feel safe and drowsy - and that he was able to let his guard down showed just how much trust he had in Papyrus. 

So, why was Bones being carried again? 

Well, it was after the other skeleton had met up with him. He was scooped up - Papyrus having ignored his weak protests - and carried into the majestic castle.

Now that he knew of the barrier having shattered by Frisk, he did not feel as concern about how empty everywhere felt when he was on his way here.

If he remembered correctly, before the battle against ~~Omega~~ Photoshop Flowey, the player was helped by the Monsters they spared. As much as he appreciated their 'assistance', they did nothing but add fuel to the fire. All of their souls had been absorbed by the flower, causing the plant to gain more power. Bones remembered being fondly exasperated back then, having assumed that the souls of everyone he spared be the reason why Asriel was stronger than anticipated. 

But enough of reminiscing. 

They were both just outside the barrier room. Papyrus having stopped when he felt Bones tap his humerus and gain his attention. 

"HM? WHAT IS IT, IMPACT? ARE YOU NERVOUS ABOUT SANS? I ASSURE YOU THAT HE WILL NOT POUNCE ON YOU DURING A HISTORICAL MOMENT SUCH AS THIS!"

"Bruh, as much as I want to believe that... You didn't see how furious he was at me. Maybe I shouldn't... You know, uh, be here? Besides, I don't even know the human. I'm sure they'll prefer taking the first step out of the Underground with their friends rather than-"

"EXCUSES! SINCE THEY ARE MY FRIEND, BY EXTENSION, THEY ARE YOURS. JUST LIKE HOW UNDYNE IS YOUR FRIEND AS WELL! FEAR NOT, LITTLE BROTHER. YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY NEEDED BY SANS AND I WHILST WE WATCH OUR FIRST EVER SUNSET!"

Bones stared incredulously at the smiling Papyrus, not sure if he should gag or feel touched. He chose neither and simply looked blankly at his brother. 

First and foremost; he. will **never**. be friends. with. FISHFACE! 

Secondly, he doubted they truly needed him just to see the fricken sunset. 

Lastly, Sans would prefer Bones to be out of the picture. By how he acted, he most definitely did not want Bones to be anywhere near the human. Although there were some contradictions too...

Before he could voice out a disagreement, as well as a demand to be put down so he could make a dash back to Snowdin, Papyrus strode confidently into the barrier room. Bones immediately pulled his hood lower, the mindset of 'out of sight, out of mind' in play, even though he knows it doesn't always work.

In fact, even with his hood shadowing most of his features, he was still able to see clearly. His eyelights unintentionally roamed, his mind forming escape plans and strategies in case the human turn genocidal. Better safe than sorry.

It was all for nought, however, when he did not spot Frisk anywhere. He idly recalled how during the pacifist ending, the player would be able to turn back and meet Asriel at the starting point. Maybe the child wanted to talk to the small goat?

Whilst he mused, he tried his best to ignore Sans with Toriel (he wished his soul didn't burn at the sight of them being happy and laughing together). He focused more on Undyne's boisterous laughter as she made her way over, her shit-eating grin stating that she was up to no good. 

"'Sup, brat! Still hiding behind Paps here, as usual, I see."

The muscle-headed idiot slapped a hand against his spine as a greeting. He winced at the sound his back made but quickly hid it before he rolled his eyelights at her.

"Sup yourself, captain fishface. And I ain't hiding, bruh."

"Duh! You're being carried. And that, in my dictionary, is you being a brat and letting your older brother cover for you! Eh, whatever. More importantly, let me introduce to you my nerd. Hey babe, come 'ere!"

She waved a hand over to a small, chubby and yellow dinosaur with round glasses and a white lab coat.

Alphys was sweating buckets, and she even 'eeped' when Bones turned his glare from Undyne to her.

Fucking Undyne.

He tried his best to smoothen his expression into a neutral one, even making his eyelights appear softer as to not frighten the skittish scientist further. He had formally met Alphys a few times when he had been a babybones, but by right, he should've been too little to remember Sans's ex-colleague.

So he pretended that this was their first meeting. She seemed to be doing the same. Or maybe she forgot about him? He doubted that he had been memorable. His presence (and Papyrus's too) tended to fade from the minds of others during his younger days. No idea why the damn shopkeeper even said that the skelebros had 'suddenly' appeared in Snowdin when they had been there since childhood. Although the bunnies do 'remember' to never cross him - which was very contradictive and mysterious in itself. 

He was brought out from his musings when Undyne threw an arm across Alphys's shoulders, the blush those two wore caused Bones to chuckle under his breath. It was cute. 

"This is Alphys. She's my g-girlfriend. Al, this is Bones. The brat I've been telling you about."

"Wow, bruh. It warms my non-existing heart to hear that you've been talking about me. Sup, Alphys. Hope you've only been hearing good things? Uh, but if it's the opposite - Fishface tends to exaggerate, bruh. She even believes anime is real - what a weirdo."

"Shut it! I do not exaggerate... And ANIME IS REAL, BRAT! NGAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

The Captain looked as if she wanted to suplex Bones for saying that last line.

Alphys, on the other hand, was imitating a tomato. Her scales were flushed red from being called Undyne's girlfriend, and from the physical contact they still shared.

"N-n-nice to m-meet you. D-don't worry. She has o-only been telling me a-all about the c-cu-"

"AND...!!! LET'S MOVE FURTHER INSIDE THE ROOM! We don't want to block the punk from entering later."

The loud fish Monster quickly interrupted before Alphys was able to inform Bones of what exactly Undyne had been saying about him. He was curious, of course, and decided to ~~pressure~~ kindly ask Alphys when she was alone.

"GREAT IDEA! WE SHOULDN'T TROUBLE THEM WITH BLOCKING THE ENTRANCE. I REMEMBER THOSE TIMES WHEN PUNK HAMSTER WOULD SUDDENLY STOP WALKING IN THE MIDDLE OF ENTERING GRILLBY'S. IF NOT FOR MY AMAZING REFLEXES, I WOULD'VE CRASHED INTO HIM EVERY TIME I FETCH SANS! HE MUST'VE BEEN TRULY UNHEALTHY TO ALWAYS BE TAKING A BREAK. I WONDER IF I SHOULD ENCOURAGE HE LIVE A HEALTHIER LIFESTYLE? ALL THAT GREASE... NYEH!"

Whilst still being carried as their group moved further into the room, Bones fumed and silently promised to bring pain to that shitty rodent. How that kind of unacceptable conduct managed to slip through his surveillance, he didn't know. But he would do his hardest to correct such rude behaviour towards his cinnamon roll of a brother. 

Whilst the group of four (excluding him) were chatting happily away, he saw Asgore looking longingly at Toriel. He rolled his eyelights discreetly at the useless king before observing Toriel.

This was the first time he saw the goat Monster in real life. He was both parts mesmerised and envious of her beauty. She was the definition of a mother - kindhearted to a fault. Her height towered his eldest brother, but the two made an adorable cou-

Bones refused to finish that thought.

He knew he was being spiteful. But jealousy truly brought forth a storm of ugly emotions. He wished he was there instead of Toriel. That he was the one Sans was laughing with. That he was the one to cause Sans's soul to shine brightly with love - and not the platonic kind, too.

Toriel seemed to have sensed that she was being watched, apparently, because her eyes connected with Bones's dimming eyelights. She perked up and started to coo. Her motherly senses had probably picked up on how young he was compared to the other Monsters in the room. Bones, with the attitude of a petty child, turned away, not wanting to have any type of connection with the elegant and regal Monster.

His gaze unintentionally landed on Sans, and much to his sorrow, the oldest of the skelebros turned away immediately upon their eyelights meeting. Bones felt that he deserved it. Even he thought it fair to never forgive himself for spouting such hurtful words at his family.

He hoped that that made his max HP lower down. It would be a blessing. The revolting and intense love he felt for his brother already caused him to be filled with self-disgust and guilt. The more his max HP fell, the more he felt satisfaction. The sins he bore was heavy and stifling, and he just wanted to disappear.

He tightened his arms around Papyrus's ribcage before he went limp, skull tucked against the taller skeleton's clothed clavicle. The handknitted orange sweater felt amazing against his bones. 

Yes. He was seeking comfort and shying away from his troubled thoughts and emotions. But what else could a broken person do? He didn't want to cause a scene. It was better for him to fade discreetly away than go out with a bang.

His eye sockets felt heavy so he closed it. His body was exhausted due to his emotions running dry. His mental state had already passed its threshold. All he wanted to do was sleep.

The Net's battle against the Royal Guards would've distracted him from feeling like shite, but since that wasn't happening anytime soon, he felt it better to succumb to apathy and sleep it off. Allow his emotions and mentality to reset. When he wakes up later, maybe, just maybe, he would grow the balls to beg Sans for forgiveness.

For now... He would escape to a fantasy world where Sans was his lover and Papyrus was always there with him. Hell, maybe he would even add in Gaster as their father - and make him clumsy just for shit and giggles, bruh! 

He could already feel his mood lifting as he fell deeper into that imaginative world.

* * *

* * *

  **Papyrus's POV** ~~(Holy shit I've been waiting impatiently to write this!!)~~

Papyrus felt more than see his baby brother fall asleep. He idly shifted his precious bundle to a more comfortable position as he conversed with Undyne and Alphys. The captain was retelling the heroic tale of how she hunted down the human, with him making cheering sounds at appropriate times.

Truthfully, he wasn't paying much attention to his friend. He was more focused on Impact. 

Yes, he knew of his brother's horrible habit of escaping reality. It was similar to Sans, especially the part where they slept the day away. But at least Sans had an excuse. He mostly did that because he needed the extra HP. His older brother's max HP had been 1 from birth - although his ATK and DEF dropped considerably from their chilling numbers to just a single digit. But other than that, he knew Sans would live another day just because he needed to take care of his two younger brothers. So Papyrus didn't need to worry about the eldest as much as the youngest. 

Papyrus worried that if he missed a day of breaking down Impact's locked door, he would find a pile of dust on top of the bed or in the middle of the bedroom. It was quite vexing that his little brother took no notice of how he purposely destroyed all of the locks whilst leaving the door intact (sometimes). He wanted to show Impact that the locks were unnecessary, especially since he was watching attentively for any signs of an existential crisis, but Impact was simply too oblivious to note it!

Even Sans had a good time watching him suffer, drowning his failures with incidental music - much to his exasperation. Sometimes, he wondered how the overly intelligent yet young skeleton could be so dense!

His discontent was interrupted when he heard Sans's bones shifting subtly - the sounds that they created forming a language that nobody but the two of them knows.

'is he asleep?'

Papyrus turned slightly to see that Sans was making an infuriating pun as Lady Toriel laughed happily.  

If Papyrus had eyelights, he would've rolled them. 

"-nd then the human became my BEST friend! Hah! It's a type of revenge I planned. But, uh, I think they're cool. Still nerdy but cool. NGGAAAHH!! Anyway-"

He leaned forward and moved his scapula in a way that made a quiet rattle, his other bones following in the shifting. To others, it might look like he was excited at hearing Undyne's story.

'YES. AND GUESS WHAT TRIGGERED HIM TO SLEEP? YOU, MY DEAR BROTHER, ARE THE WORSE! WHY DID YOU AVOID HIM? DID YOU KNOW THAT HE THOUGHT YOU DIDN'T WANT HIM ANYMORE?'

'shit. sorry, paps. that wasn't my intention. i didn't want to creep him with my staring.'

'I KNOW. I REALLY DO, SANS. BUT YOU KNOW HOW FRAGILE IMPACT'S MENTALITY IS. EVEN THE SLIGHTEST OF SIGNS THAT HE'S NOT NEEDED AND... WHAM! HE'S BACK TO HAVING AN EXISTENTIAL CRISIS. HAVE YOU FOUND OUT HOW EXACTLY THIS CAME TO BE?'

'still zero progress. it might've started with a simple question to oneself; what is my purpose? but then expanded and formed this mental disorder. i don't understand. other than those gossiping bunnies, there isn't anything that could have triggered this form of anxiety - especially when impact hadn't even reached the age of maturity back then.'

"Is that the one and only Impact that I've been hearing about, Sans? You're right, he's absolutely adorable! Especially whilst he's being carried."

Lady Toriel was walking over to their group with Sans in tow, causing Undyne to stop her storytelling and Alphys to shift nervously. 

He immediately slapped his mental mask on and puffed out his chest, appearing as if he was full of pride to hear the goat woman's complimentary words. Not that that wasn't true. Impact was adorable even whilst doing nothing. Nothing can beat their little brother!

* yep. the babybones probably _goat_ tired after travelling from snowdin.

"NYEH! SANS! DON'T RUIN THIS HISTORICAL MOMENT WITH YOUR PUNS!"

'REALLY, SANS? YOU NEEDED TO CONFIRM HE WAS ASLEEP BEFORE YOU HAVE THE COURAGE TO INTRODUCE IMPACT TO HER?'

"I thought it was rather _humerus_. Did that not tickle your _funny bone_ , Papyrus?"

The ex-queen shot back with a wink, causing Sans to chuckle whilst Undyne and Papyrus facepalmed. He made sure to avoid causing too much disturbance in his movements in case he woke Impact up prematurely. 

"DEFINITELY NOT! SANS, STOP SPREADING YOUR BAD INFLUENCE!"

* welp. i'll try. but i guarantee no results. you can't _see through them_ like you can me.

'i lack the _guts_ , paps. since i'm a skeleton and all that jazz.'

'I'M IGNORING YOU!'

Before he could shout out his verbal response, the barrier room's door split open, revealing two figures instead of one.

Everyone turned curiously back to Frisk, and Papyrus heard his Majesty gasp loudly whilst Lady Toriel let out a cry of surprise.

Behind of the human was a young Monster. They appeared to be a mixture between Lady Toriel and his Majesty's features - another goat Monster. The kid wore a green and yellow striped shirt and was clinging anxiously to Frisk's right arm.

"M-my child...?"

Lady Toriel was the first to move, the fur below her eyes wet with tears as she extended a paw forward. Her expression was one of disbelief, happiness, sorrow, and hope. 

His Majesty, on the other hand, appeared flabbergasted. His eyes showed joy, guilt, longing, and hope. He did not extend a paw, but he did take a step forward, his knees trembling as if they could not bear his weight.

This...

Papyrus turned his skull to Sans, who was equally as shocked.

'BROTHER. SUGAR HONEY ICED TEA?! WHAT IS THIS SITUATION?!'

'brother. shit. what is this situation.'

They both 'exclaimed' at the same time. 

'IS THAT ASRIEL DREEMURR?! THE DEAD SON OF HIS AND HER MAJESTY? LET ME **EMPHASIZE ** ON THE **DEAD** PART.'

'i wonder if he is the reason why frisk stopped their genocidal behaviour?'

'AS MUCH AS I WOULD _LoVe_  TO BELIEVE THAT, I DOUBT IT! HE SHOULD BE DEAD, SANS. DEAD.'

'yeah, i get it, paps. it's peculiar tha- wait, did you just make a pun-'

'DEAD. SANS! ARE YOU HEARING ME? DEAD!!!'

'... you're kind of obsessed with that part...?'

'NYEHHHH!!!! YOU IMBECILE! BONEHEAD! WE CAN USE HIM AS A CLUE ON HOW TO GET DAD BACK!'

Sans, who was slouching nonchalantly the whole time, immediately stood straight from attention. His spine was ramrod and his sockets narrowed. None of his laziness was seen.

Luckily, nobody was paying the Judge any mind. They were all still shocked at the appearance of the should-be-dead-prince. Frisk was also busy with whispering soft and inaudible words into the ears of the goat prince.

The human's eyes were scanning the room, a happy expression on their face as they observed the reaction of the Monsters. Their eyes soon swept past of him, but much to Papyrus's curiosity, did a doubletake. Those usual squinty eyes were wide with horror for only a second before their expression blanked out and they turned bodily away from his direction.

He didn't have time to ponder on the peculiar behaviour since he needed to pay more attention to Sans.

'you're right. papyrus, distract them. i'll get a sample of the prince's magic and soul for now. then i'll confront frisk and see if we can cook something up. i'll need your help with asgore, though.'

'ON IT.'

"WOWIE! KING FLUFFYBOY, NOT ONLY DO YOU HAVE A FEMALE VERSION OF YOURSELF, BUT YOU HAVE A MINI-YOU AS WELL! THAT'S SO COOL! DID ALPHYS HELP YOU WITH THE CLONING?"

That snapped everyone out from their daze. 

Lady Toriel stared at Papyrus as if his head had a few screws loose, whilst his Majesty cracked a small smile at his silliness. Undyne muttered a small 'idiot' under her breath as she patted his humerus fondly. Alphys was sweaty as usual. 

Frisk's grin broadened as they laughed silently (although nervously as well), but Papyrus took note that it wasn't at him. It was at everyone's reaction to his words. That made him give a mental thumbs up to the human. 

Whilst they were distracted, Sans had pulled up his hood to shadow his eye sockets, not wanting to alarm anyone that he was using his magic to levitate two tubes behind of the prince. Not many know of Sans's fine control over his magic, and Papyrus felt proud that his older brother was able to do so without even showing that he was concentrating really hard to attain the samples.

"Golly, Papyrus. Let me correct you. This is Toriel, my, uh... ahem, and that... uhm, is my s-son; Asriel."

When the king brought a paw up as if to sweep in the direction of Asriel, Papyrus acted before everyone's sight changed to focus on the prince.

It wouldn't do if they saw two floating tubes currently filling up with green and white liquid respectively. The green, if he guessed correctly, was the child's magic, whilst the white was the essence of the prince's soul.

He averted his gaze, not wanting to know how Sans even did those things without alerting his victim. 

"IS SHE YOUR WIFE, YOUR MAJESTY?! THE MYSTERIOUS QUEEN?!"

"R-right. She-"

"I am queen no longer, child. I am simply Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins."

Papyrus thanked his lucky stars that they were so easily distracted. It must've been a defence mechanism - since they did not want to find out if Asriel would disappear if they were to pay closer attention to him. Like a cruel hallucination. 

"IT'S NICE TO MEET YOU, LADY TORIEL! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ROYAL GUARD WARRIOR IN TRAINING!"

"And my Head Advisor as well as the Lead Strategist within the Royal Guards."

His Majesty added with a warm smile.

Papyrus disliked it when the king told people of his positions. It made it harder for others to believe that he was simply an innocent and naive youth.

Lady Toriel's expression was slightly constipated when she heard that. Even Frisk had a bizarre expression, as if doubting what they heard. Yes, it was hard to believe that he was competent enough to achieve such prestigious positions for one so young, but that shows how much his acting skills have improved.

Papyrus felt pride.

Sans thought him so much. Maybe he should cook up Sans's favourite meal later on as thanks?

"It's... nice to meet you too, Papyrus. How old are you, if I may ask?"

"Q-QUESTIONS? YOU MUST REALLY BE INTERESTED IN ME! WOWIE. DO YOU WANT TO GO ON A DATE WITH THE GREAT PAPYRUS? I AM A SKELETON OF HIGH STANDARDS, THOUGH!"

He made sure to force a blush as he used a hand to cup his cheekbone, the other still carrying his younger brother without strain. 

Hm... Too light... He should cook more for Impact. Or maybe serve more portions for Impact and lesser for Sans. The latter needed to stop eating unhealthily, anyway. He was getting heavier to carry. 

He had already forgotten his own words to cook Sans's favourite meal, having been focused more on his little brother's lack of weight.

"Papyrus... I don't think the lady wants to... ya know..."

Undyne patted his humerus to gain his attention whilst Alphys hid a giggle.

Lady Toriel even had her eyes wide open whilst his Majesty choked on nothing in particular.

"NONSENSE! IN MY DATING HANDBOOK, IT SAYS THAT IF ONE IS CURIOUS ABOUT ANOTHER PERSON, THEY ARE INTERESTED! SO THAT MEANS LADY TORIEL IS TRYING TO FIND WAYS TO DATE ME BUT IS TOO SHY TO TRULY ASK THE RIGHT QUESTION!"

"O-oh, no, my child, I am much too old for you. You can do better than this old woman. I think I am older than your parents. Old enough to be one of your ancestors, I'm afraid."

Papyrus almost burst out in demented cackles when Lady Toriel blushed crimson to the tips of her fur as she kept repeating the word 'old' as if that would turn any Monster off from her youthful appearance. 

Lucky for her, he wasn't interested, no matter how gorgeous she was. His soul has already been stolen by another.

* she's right, paps. well, anyway, shouldn't we actually focus on the main person here?

Sans stepped forward to attract the eyes of others before he tilted his chin towards the direction of Frisk and Asriel. 

'alright. stop your teasing. i got the samples.'

'NO NEED TO BE JEALOUS, BROTHER. THAT'S UNBECOMING OF YOU.'

'not jealous. just weirded out. bro, i didn't even know you could flirt. badly.'

'THAT LAST WORD WAS UNNECESSARY, SANS!'

Lady Toriel was the first one to move towards the two children and crouched down on one knee, her expression extremely hopeful.

"Asriel...? Is that you, my son?"

Her voice cracked at the end, and if Papyrus was an emotional person, he would be full of tears at seeing the reunion of mother and child. But since he wasn't, his mind could only think of the possibilities Asriel brought forth.

He missed his dad.

'i miss him too, paps. but remember... impact and i will always be with you.'

Nyeh. He didn't even know he had spoken that 'out loud'.

'THANK YOU, SANS. BUT I WOULD PREFER YOU TO TAKE YOUR OWN ADVICE.'

'this is so not the time, papyrus. i'll fix my relationship with impact later.'

'SOONER, OR LATER LATER?'

'soon. just... give me some time, paps.'

'ALRIGHT. I'LL TRY TO SOFTEN HIM WHILST YOU GLOOM AWAY.'

"I'm back... mother."

The two goat Monsters hugged, and soon, even his Majesty was by their side. Lady Toriel didn't seem to notice or mind that she was enveloped in the king's arms. She only had eyes on her son.

Papyrus tightened his hold on Impact. And if Sans had moved closer so that his hand was resting on their little brother's femur, he did not bring it up.

"How...?"

The king questioned, his deep baritone cracked as he shed manly tears.

"It was all thanks to F-frisk. Mom, dad. They helped me. That's all... you need to know. I'm back for good, and I won't be leaving anytime soon."

The royals included Frisk into their family embrace... which was soon ruined by Undyne.

Sigh.

As much as Papyrus loved his friend (platonically of course), the fish Monster was an idiot. A muscle-headed idiot.

And yes, he needed to repeat the word idiot twice. Just to drill it that she is an idiot.

Oh, make that thrice.

"NGGAAHHHH!!! Seriously, it's great that his highness is back with us, really! But can we, PLEASE go to the surface now?"

"U-u-undyne!"

"But beb, I can't wait any longer!"

"Captain Undyne's right. I'm sorry for delaying you guys."

Asriel spoke up, separated from his family, and with Frisk in hand, they both led the group out.

Papyrus's grin widened with excitement as he held out his hand for Sans to take. His older brother hesitated for a second, knowing that once he held onto the older's hand, he wasn't letting go until his two brothers made up.

Sans took his hand, their grips were as strong as their bond.

This would be the first time for their little brother.

But the second time for the both of them.

Hopefully, there would not be anymore RESETs.

* * *

* * *

  **Bones's POV**

Bones's eyesockets fluttered open as he was shaken gently from his slumber. 

"BABYBONES? WE'VE JUST PASSED THROUGH WHAT ONCE WAS THE BARRIER."

Barrier? Passed through?

The caused Bones to jolt awake, his skull almost headbutting Papyrus's mandible. He offered a half-hearted apology but paid no attention to the skeleton still carrying him. He strained to see where the sky was.

Of course, he wasn't a country bumpkin, but after fifteen years of fake clouds and stars, he wanted to see the real thing. Hell, he even missed the burning ball of fire and the reflective round plate.

"ARE YOU EXCITED?"

"Yeah, bruh!"

His mind was stable and his emotions were tingling with excitement.

As expected, sleeping did solve everything.

Uh, almost everything, anyway. He made sure to avoid looking in Sans's direction. It was hard since he was walking so close.

When they were about to exit the long tunnel, he tugged at Papyrus's humerus and pointed down. The taller skeleton looked saddened for a second but that must've been his imagination. After his two feet were on the ground, his hands were captured by both his brothers.

It surprised him that Sans initiated it. 

His eyelights strayed to the stout skeleton, and his soul almost jumped out of his ribcage when Sans smiled genuinely at him, the soft glow of fondness in those eyelights caused his soul to do somersaults.  

Bones quickly turned away, his cheekbones feeling warm. He made sure to squeeze the slightly taller skeleton's hand, though, not wanting the other to misunderstand. His hand was squeezed in return, and soon, they were out of the tunnel.

His breath hitched when he saw the orange-reddish colour of the sky, creating a beautiful illusion of it being on fire. He couldn't help but marvel at the sight. 

Without further ado, he whipped out his phone and snapped everything in view, having released his brothers' hands as he rushed around the edge of the mountain, his cheekbones almost hurting by how wide he was grinning.

"Careful, there, young one. Wouldn't want to fall now, do we?"

He blinked, forcing his expression to go back to their neutral state as he turned to the deep baritone of Asgore. 

The goat Monster was smiling as he gazed at the setting sun, his white fur reflecting the reddish hue and making him look ethereal. 

Bones idly wondered if Toriel would be tempted to return to Asgore's side if she were to see this. He bent his spine to observe the caretaker of the Ruins. 

She was more interested in looking at the sunset with her two children in her lap than at Asgore. How pitiful. Asgore, bruh, she's out of your hands now.

... Wait.

Bones did a doubletake.

What. The. Fuck?

Why in the hell was Asriel Dreemurr here?! In goat form! Not a flower! 

What...?!

* that's asriel. our prince. 

He turned to Sans, who was suddenly beside of him. He resisted the urge to wrap his arms around the other's humerus as he tore his gaze away from his crush.

"You sure, bruh? 'Cause in history class, I learnt that Asriel was..."

Bones moved further away from the king before he continued. He was tactful like that. And if he was closer to Sans... Eh, it's your imagination.

"... You know, dead? For centuries, in fact."

* good to know that you're paying attention, baby brother. but yes. he _was_ dead. apparently, frisk helped him or something. they're keeping it a secret. and since tori and asgore don't mind their silence - i'm not sure if we're in the position to ask.

"But..."

_You are the Judge. It's your right to ask._

Was what he had wanted to say. But he held his tongue. Sans hasn't informed Bones of him being chosen.

* i know you're curious. i am too. that's why i'm letting paps handle this. he is the king's trusted head advisor. so within a day or two, i suspect that we will have our answer.

"Heh. Sneaky as always."

* you break my heart, impact. a lazybones such as me? sneaky? too much work.

They both shared a secret glance before going back to observing the sunset.

"So... are we cool?"

* yeah. no skin off my teeth.

"Wao. So I'm super close to you ripping me a new one, huh, bruh?"

* what ever gave you that idea, my dear?

Bones shrugged, before finally giving into his urge to wrap his arms around the other skeleton's humerus. Sans didn't seem to mind. 

"But truthfully... I'm sorry. For speaking such hurtful words. I didn't mean it."

* it's alright, impact. i know. we say stupid shite when we lose our cool.

When he felt teeth on the crown of his skull, he fought a brave battle against the oncoming blush.

He lost.

Obviously.

Suddenly, he suddenly felt a rush of DETERMINATION!

Nah. It was just a dose of courage.

"I... I love you, Sans."

He hid his face in the shadows of his hood, not wanting to see Sans's expression to his confession.

Chara did say to confess to Sans if they ever made it to the surface. Hopefully, the stout skeleton will still allow Bones to live with him and Papyrus... even if he felt disturbed that his so-called baby brother was in love with him.

* love you too, impact.

Bones snapped his head up in delight at not being rejected, a wide grin on his skull. He almost formed an ecto-tongue to french kiss the living shite out of Sans...

But that look.

It was the look of someone telling their little sibling that they love them.

* you're my little brother. never doubt my love for you.

... And he was right, as always.

When Sans turned his eyelights to Bones's shadowed skull, the latter's expression has already changed from mortification to _happiness_.

"Of course, Sansy! Should we check on Papyrus? He already ran down the mountain. My goodness... Are you coming with?"

* go ahead. i gotta go back to the judgement hall. 

"Alright. See you later, bruh."

He waved _energetically_  as Sans followed behind Asgore.

And it only was until they were completely out of view did he allow his purplish tears to fall. 

A wide smile was still formed by his teeth, but his eyelights were gone as those empty sockets continued to release the waterworks.

Heh. At least his defective magic still allowed him to form tears and other ecto-things. 

He couldn't help it.

He laughed.

And laughed.

And continued to laugh.

He refused to stop laughing even when he felt shattered.

Laughter is the best medicine.

He was ok.

He just needed to laugh it all out.

And when he finally stopped laughing after the sun has fully set... He whispered to the empty mountaintop, his voice broken as he held in his sobs. 

"That wasn't what I meant... My feelings for you are different, Sansy..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... if you've read my other fics, you should know that I won't be able to update as frequent as I'd like. However, if you did not (blatant advertising: try reading **Accomplice to Damnation** and [Your 'hateful' Neighbours](http://archiveofourown.org/works/13782981)), the reason for that is because I'm going to be bombarded by assignments and exams by the _wonderful thing_ known as University. ~~Note the sarcasm.~~
> 
> Now that that has been said... Did you all enjoy this chapter? Are you guys shocked at how un-Papyrus Papyrus is in his head? Wowie! I'm sure you're all flabbergastered. I've been leaving breadcrumbs, though. If you re-read, I'm sure you'll notice that in Bones's POV, Papyrus acts differently at certain times, although not obvious. 
> 
> Thank you for your support and positive comments! It fills this writer with DETERMINATION!╰(▔∀▔)╯
> 
> P.S. Remember how I said I got used to editing the font speeches? Yeah, funny thing... I'm unused to it now. Hello, bloodshot eyes and despairing tears. You have not been missed. ( ༎ຶ ⌑ ༎ຶ )


	17. Up for debate（￣ε￣）

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Preparation to meet the Humans!

All of the Monsters cheered energetically when the barrier's destruction was announced, some weeping in joy whilst others howled with excitement. Everyone was delighted, one way or another, impatient to leave the mountain. The only reason why the Underground has yet to be vacated was that they were prohibited from leaving just yet. The  ~~Shadow King~~ monarch was unsure of how the humans would react to them, so he withheld the masses.

A week of restlessness passed by, but now, Monsterkind was more relaxed, knowing that they could leave as soon as the upper echelons deemed it safe.

As to not worry his family for disappearing mid-way through yet another boring speech, Bones sent a text to both of his brothers, informing them that he was getting some nicecream.

He lied, of course. But who could blame him, though? Sans and Papyrus were busy with Asgore, both holding a position of power and were needed in dealing with troublesome human-monster relations and shite. 

Bones was currently in his bedroom, his knuckles wrapped and his bones warmed up. He was wearing a loose sleeveless shirt and comfortable basketball shorts, barefoot as he simply stood without motion - just focusing on his breathing.

Without a change of expression, he brought his fists up in whilst his legs parted for balance. He simply stood, eyesockets closed as he cleared his mind of unwanted emotions and thoughts. The moment he found his peace of mind, however, his eyesockets flew open and he rained attacks on the innocently suspended punchbag, elbowing, punching, kicking, and knee-ing with full force. 

Exercise was a way for him to release his pent-up emotions. It allowed for him to escape without anyone the wiser - basically thinking him an exercise junkie. 

It was refreshing in a way - to push his body to its limits, whilst also keeping his mind tranquil.

He didn't know for how long he trained, but when his door was knocked on, he halted his movements and palmed the punchbag to stop its momentum. His breathing was heavy as he wiped his sweat covered skull with the collar of his shirt and turned, wondering which of his brothers (hopefully Papyrus?) had called for his attention.

* thought you were getting nicecream.

It wasn't phrased as a question. Simply a statement.

He warily cracked an eyesocket open - the other being wiped so that sweat didn't enter - to see that Sans's smile was gentle, showing that he didn't mind the white lie.

What a relief.

"Hah... hah... Lost time. Fuhh... What're you doing here, Sansy bruh?"

* looking for a change of clothes. anyway, since i'm already here, why don't you cool down and get ready - then i'll meet you downstairs? i'll shortcut us to the throne room.

Bones unwrapped his knuckles mechanically as his eyelights avoided Sans's - he still felt his soul was bleeding out from the rejection, his mentality on the edge of a breakdown.

Due to his avoidance, he only now took notice of what Sans was wearing. It was... weird as heck if Bones was honest with himself, but in a good way(?). The other skeleton was dressed in a regal white robe with complicated golden embroidery, quite similar to what a Pope in full regalia would wear - he was even holding a tall and thin sceptre (leaning on it, actually).

Sans looked uncomfortable with his scrutiny, so Bones turned away in order to give the stout skeleton some form of space. He knew that Sans was hesitant in telling him about being the Judge - no idea why, but Bones would respect that. 

"Can I ask why?"

* we're going to introduce ourselves to the humans soon. frisk has finally convinced the local embassy and they have agreed to meet us at the bottom of mount ebott.

"Ok...? But why am I tagging along, bruhski?"

Sans raised a browbone as he crossed his arms over his ribcage, obviously unamused at Bones's question.

Bones tried to ignore how grand Sans looked (he failed) - it was almost unfair how oblivious the other was to his feelings. How blissfully unaware that his very presence causes Bones to scream and claw on the inside, the guilt and anxiety tormenting him without rest. ~~Where was Papyrus when Bones needed him the most?!~~

* 'cause i ain't leaving you alone here. the congress will take place over several days, and accommodations will be provided by the humans.

"Sans. I'm fifteen, not five. I can last a few days on my own."

He would prefer it, actually. He needed the time to calm his torrent of emotions and get back to his usual bratty self. Already, he could feel the claws of his existential crisis at the edges of his awareness, ready to grab ahold of him the moment he lets his guard down.

* i know. but i still worry. besides, paps will refuse to attend if you're not there. he'd rather stay in the house with you... and you know he can't. as the head advisor, he needs to be with asgore - especially during such an important occasion.

"Wao. Try harder, Sansy. Guilt tripping won't work when I'd rather have Papyrus nowhere near humans, but, whatever, bruh. Just let me just take a shower first. I doubt anyone would appreciate me coming smelling like sweat."

Much to his bewilderment, Sans entered his personal space and leaned into his cervical vertebra, hands resting loosely on his iliac crests. Bones felt his cheekbones flush with embarrassment, especially when he heard Sans sniffing loudly.

His phalanges twitched at the urge to push the stout skeleton away, feeling self-conscious about smelling like a gym sock, but not really daring to. What if he hurt Sans? The other only had 1 HP. 

* hm. i don't know, bro, you smell like you've just taken a step out from the showers.

-9999999

"Wha-?! Y-y-y... Th-t-tha- G-g-g-ge...-"

* what's the matter? cat got your tongue?

Bones's entire cranium exploded with neon purple when Sans coyly used his magic to form blue cat ears, a tail, and (most sinfully) a tongue, even daring to  ~~seductively~~ playfully lick Bones's teeth. He felt arousal flush through his bones, his soul throbbing painfully in his ribcage and getting wet from the stimulus. 

"G-G-GET OUT!!!!!"

He shrieked as he threw a nearby towel at the cackling skeleton, Sans already having taken a shortcut out of the room the second he exploded. He swore up a storm when he heard Sans's booming laughter coming from the living room. 

Without a moment's delay, he slammed his bedroom door close and dropped into a crouch. He silently screamed into his palms, trying to will away the scandalous images that kept popping into his noggin'. His pubic arc was feeling uncomfortably hot and bothered, and he had to use a hundred and ten percent of his self-control to disallow his magic from forming  _something_ down there.

He hated this.

The way he reacted was repulsive.

 _'Stop_.' Bones yelled at himself mentally. ' _Stop lusting over **YOUR BROTHER!** You disgust me! This is wrong! Just... stop... Don't...' _

He refused to acknowledge the tears of self-hatred rolling down his cheekbones as his hands wandered into his shorts.

* * *

After half an hour of being sprayed by cold water, Bones was now dressed in his usual windbreaker and high-heeled boots, his soul and magic back to its passive state, but his emotion was in further disray. 

Bones quickly shook his head to erase all thoughts and feelings, now making his way down the stairs. 

Don't show weakness, Bones.

Just smile.

So he did.

* -f course. yeah. mhm. ok, see ya soon, bro.

"Was that Papy?"

* yep. you ready?

"I was born ready, bruh!"

Sans gave him a look that screams disapproval.

* you do know i'm still against you being a daredevil, right, impact?

"Noooo, bruh. Not now. Please, spare me from another one of your lectures. The most I do is climb the cliffs in Hotland, anyway."

* which you could potentially lose a footing and fall to your demise. don't remind me. have you at least invested in safety equipment? 

"For the last time, Sans bruh, I don't need your climbing harness. It just looks... weird."

* functionality over fashion. ever heard of that, babybones? 

"... Bruh. Can we **please** go now?"

He rolled his eyelights at Sans, who sighed in return. 

* ya ya. hold tight.

The two held hands as Sans's left eye socket flared blue.

One second they were in their living room at Snowdin, and the next they were behind Papyrus in the throne room.

The middle brother yelped in surprise, which caught the attention of the rest of the room's occupants. 

"NYEH?! SANS! IMPACT! WHEN DID YOU ARRIVE?"

* was here all along, bro. 

"Papy must not have seen you from _down there,_ bruh."

* ... so that's the _height_ of your punnering abilities? very _low_ of you, baby brother.

"That's cause you're too  _short_ - _sighted_."

* oh wow. how can i _measure_ up to that?

"I AM IGNORING BOTH OF YOU!!!"

"Sansy bruh, if we don't want our giant of a brother to ignore us, we gotta speak _up_."

* nah. it's fine. we should learn how to let _small_ matters pass by.

"AND BOTH OF YOUR LIVES WILL END SOON IF YOU DON'T STOP YOUR TOMFOOLERY! AND I MUST SAY... THEY WERE PRETTY _SHORT_."

The three skelebros broke down into fits of childish giggling. Bones especially enjoyed the tallest skeleton's dark sense of humour. It was pretty rare for the middle brother to crack a pun, so Bones learnt to appreciate the golden moments. 

It was when he heard a feminine laughter coming from behind of him, however, that he felt his grin twitch downwards for a split second before they returned to normal.

When he turned to face the person, he was not at all surprised to see Toriel. 

"My, I must say you three are pretty _humerus_."

* d'aw, tori. by far that's _goat_ to be the best compliment you've given this whole day.

"You're such a _comic_ , _Sans_."

Before they could flirt any further, Bones tugged on Sans's hand (yes, they were still holding hands, even though Bones felt the urge to throw said appendage far away to keep them from being contaminated by his filth), making sure that his expression was friendly.

"Who's this, big brother? The Queen?"

He was so tempted to put 'incompetent' or 'runaway' before the word queen but held his tongue. 

* oh, right. you were sleeping back then. meet toriel, baby bones, my a _door_ able knock knock buddy and our queen.

"It's so wonderful to finally meet you, child. I've heard so much about you from your big brother. I must say, you are far cuter than he described."

Bones tried, he really did. But whatever he said next made the goat lady took a step back in shock.

He blames his filtration system - it must've malfunction due to bitterness.

"I can't say the same 'bout you, lady. Sans doesn't air his dirty laundries."

This was why he needed time away, Sans! He can't think straight!

* impact serif esqueleto! how dare you say such disrespectful words?!

Unexpectedly, it was Papyrus that pulled him out of Sans's personal space, making sure to hook an arm across his shoulders whilst also having taken a big step backwards - forcing Bones to move along with him.

Even though his oldest brother did not raise his voice, Bones felt instantly chastised, not daring to look Sans directly in the eyelights. 

* such spoilt and belligerent behaviour is unacceptable - in front of the queen, no less.

He grimaced, quite thankful that everybody else wasn't paying attention to their little group, busy with their own things.

* do you hear me, impact? apologize! 

But he refused.

And by how terrifying Sans's expression turned, it must've shown.

* **n** _o_ **_w_**.

"S-sorry." 

Stubbornness be damn in the face of Sans's demonic voice. 

* * *

The air between Bones and his eldest brother was tense. Again.

Rather than admitting that it was his fault, he blames it all on Toriel. Yes, he was a petty, ugly, and disgusting prat when it comes to his love life - or lack thereof. The only thing on his ~~(broken)~~ mind was "if I can't have Sans, nobody else can" and "if I can't feel happiness, why should others be able to?". 

So whoever even tries to court his eldest brother... Ke ke ke... May the heavens have mercy on their unfortunate souls.

For now, operation 'get Asgore and Toriel back together again' has commenced.

If all hope has been lost, however... well, his Net does have a branch that focuses solely on taking out the garbage. 

But he shall keep that as a last option. For now.

Currently, their small group was being led down the mountain by a fully armored Undyne at the front, and her three vice-captains guarding their rear, with Sans, Frisk, and Toriel behind of Papyrus and Asgore - Bones squashed in between of the two tall Monsters.

To be honest, he had not been expecting Papyrus and the King to suddenly start a whispered conversation whilst Bones was still within hearing range; mostly about the potential dangers and upcoming topics that may be discussed during the congress with the humans. As he continued to pretend that he wasn't interested and was simply bored, he was paying keen attention to their debate - or rather, Papyrus was listing out all the things whilst Asgore listened.

It was no wonder his Net decided to choose the name Shadow King for Papyrus. There was a poll, actually, between Shadow King and Puppeteer, but after that one incident... Well, all Bones could say was that Papyrus deserved that ~~title~~ code name.

How such an innocent cinnamon roll could turn out that way, Bones could never figure out. 

But he loves his brother all the same. 

When Undyne held up a hand, the group stopped in unison whilst her two vice-captains rested their hands on their respective swords.

The reason for her to be so vigilant was that, a hundred meters away, was a group of men wearing black suits and sunglasses, fancy limos and police bikes surrounding them. They were also armed. To the teeth. 

Bones was reminded of the movies he saw back when he had been human - M.I.B, for one.

"How do we proceed, sire?"

The muscle-headed fish warrior was smart enough to ask first before acting rashly. Well, can't blame her. The humans were tensed and had their fingers near to their guns' trigger.

"I'll go first."

"NONSENSE, YOUR MAJESTY. ALLOW SANS, IMPACT, AND FRISK TO-"

"W-what? You want my  **child** to test the waters?! Your little brother as well?!"

Toriel interrupted with a whisper-yell, the disapproval and denial clear on her features as her paw tightens on Frisk's shoulder. 

The moment she did, however, Bones's eyelights went out, the grin on his face stretching into something demented.

Nobody, and he meant literally  **NOBODY** , could yell at Papyrus - especially in front of him, of all people.

Before he could do anything that could jeopardize any chances of making a friendly impression to the humans, he felt Papyrus's arms circling around Bones's shoulders in a hug, pulling him against the other's ribcage, whilst Sans's was on his sternum, clearly a sign for him to not lose control of his emotions. 

As expected, the oblivious old lady didn't even notice his hostile reaction, more worried about children being brought into play.

"I ASSURE YOU, LADY TORIEL, THAT I WOULD PREFER TO NEVER INVOLVE MY LITTLE BROTHER IN THIS - BUT, SANS, FRISK, AND IMPACT ARE THE ONLY LOGICAL CHOICES WE HAVE."

"How can you be so sure? We could send Undyne..."

"THE CAPTAIN AND VICE-CAPTAINS HAVE A DUTY TO PROTECT HIS MAJESTY, AS WELL AS YOU, LADY TORIEL. AND FORGIVE ME FOR BEING FRANK, BUT UNDYNE IS NOT MADE FOR POLITICAL TALK - NO OFFENCE, CAPTAIN."

"None taken, paps. I know I ain't much of a talker."

The fish lady shrugged her shoulders, creating a metallic sound as her armor followed along with her movements. Papyrus threw a NYEHtacular smile at her, before turning his serious face back to Toriel - who was still refusing to accept his words.

"Then, surely, you are more suitable? You are the Head of the Royal Advisor, whilst your little brother has yet to graduate school."

"I AM HONORED BY YOUR CONFIDENCE IN MY ABILITIES, LADY TORIEL. ALAS, MY POSITION IS BY MY KING'S SIDE. I CAN'T LEAVE HIM WITHOUT A GOOD CAUSE."

"Fair enough. I'm unsure of why you chose Sans, however... I believe that he is a sentry?"

"PRECISELY BECAUSE OF THAT. AS LAZY AS MY BROTHER IS, HE IS OUR BEST SCOUT. HIS JUDGEMENT IS ESSENTIAL AND I WOULD NOT TRUST ANYONE BUT HIM TO GET SUCH AN IMPORTANT JOB DONE."

"... I still do not understand why you are keen on having Frisk and Impact go into such dangerous territory. They are but children."

"I APOLOGIZE IN ADVANCE FOR MY RUDENESS, BUT WE DO NOT HAVE MUCH TIME FOR THIS. I MUST INSIST THAT THE THREE BE SELECTED AS OUR REPRESENTATIVES AND MEET THE HUMANS IMMEDIATELY."

Seeing that she was failing to convince him otherwise, she turned to Asgore, who was being his usual useless self.

"Gorey... Please..-"

Before she could guilt trip him, Papyrus beat her to it.

"YOUR MAJESTY, IT IS YOUR CHOICE. YOUR ORDER IS MINE TO FOLLOW - AS I AM MERELY AN ADVISOR... HOWEVER, I MUST ASK THAT YOU THINK THIS THOROUGHLY. I HAVE NEVER LED YOU ASTRAY, MY KING. PLEASE CONSIDER THAT."

Whilst Asgore hesitated, Bones finally relaxed his bones, his eyelights having returned. Papyrus released Bones upon noticing and immediately went to stand next to the King, his expression solemn.

Sans's hand moved to his hand, and Bones allowed him to intertwine their phalanges together. He squeezed, feeling grateful that his older brother returned it without hesitation.

No matter how disappointed or angry they were with each other, they understood that family came first. So they needed to show a united front - even towards their friend.

Bones just didn't understand why she was so fierce in her rebuttal. It made sense for him, Sans, and Frisk to be chosen.

Undyne and her guards needed to protect the King... and were definitely unfit to be polite messengers. They would more likely scare the humans.

Frisk was chosen solely because of their race - to put it bluntly. The humans would soften their mindsets if they were to see one of them trusting Monsters. There would, of course, be bigots, but at least with Frisk, the potential of humans attacking them indiscriminately decreases.

Asgore and Toriel were out of the question. The Monsters needed their rulers to be alive.

On the other hand, if things went sour, Sans was strong enough to buy time for their group to be escorted away, and Bones would be there to protect his brother from any physical attacks. After the safety of the King was confirmed, Sans could simply teleport them away without fuss.

It was a logical choice when facing the unknown - true leaders could understand the difficulty of such a decision. Weighing the scales with cold-hearted rationality rather than emotions and feelings.

This was why Bones disapproved of the King and Queen. They were too soft. It was no wonder Monsters had lost the war - and Bones knew intimately why they did. Some of the Net's members were once participants, and they were all strong - their LVs made sure of it. 

"I'm sorry... Tori... Do what you feel is right, Papyrus."

Toriel clenched her paws, tears in her eyes as she looked away. Frisk patted the Queen's forearm in comfort, which helped because her lips twitched upwards as she hugged the human.

"THANK YOU FOR TRUSTING ME, YOUR MAJESTY. SANS. PROTECT OUR LITTLE BROTHER AND FRIEND, PLEASE."

* don't worry, papyrus. i promise i won't let **anything** happen to 'em. 

The three skelebros hugged tightly before Sans passed earpieces to the whole team - the small mic only to Papyrus.

* this is for when the situation calls for it. i ask for all of your understanding, that apart from papyrus and the king, that the rest does not speak into the mic.

"Affirmative. Good luck, Sans. We're counting on ya, but stay safe. Bolt at the first sign of danger, nerd."

Sans nodded at Undyne, his grin softening at the concern in her voice. 

"HUMAN FRIEND, SANS WILL TRANSLATE FOR YOU, SO SPEAK YOUR MIND - DO NOT HESITATE! I BELIEVE IN YOU!"

'Thanks, Papyrus. I'll do my best."

Frisk was quiet, but when Papyrus turned to them, they 'spoke' with DETERMINATION. Sans ruffled the kid's hair, his eyelights bright.

"BABY BROTHER. IMPACT."

Papyrus went down on one knee so that they were closer, his hands cupping Bones's cheekbones gently.

"SPEAK ONLY WHEN NEEDED. LEAVE MOST OF THE TALKING TO YOUR BIG BROTHER AND FRISK, ALRIGHT? AND... KEEP SANS SAFE FOR ME."

He whispered the last words, his voice wobbling.

Bones's eyesockets narrowed with protectiveness.

"I would've done that even without you saying it, big brother. Don't worry. I won't let anything or anyone even come close to harming him."

"THANK YOU. MAKE SURE TO KEEP YOURSELF SAFE AS WELL. IF ANYTHING WERE TO HAPPEN TO YOU... MY SOUL WILL BREAK."

"Of course. Believe in me."

Because if Papyrus didn't, Bones would never believe in himself.

"ALWAYS."

The taller skeleton 'kissed' the top of Bones's skull before he went to stand by the King's side, his back straight and his expression imposing. 

Without further ado, Bones led the way, with Frisk in the middle and Sans taking up the rear. 

Hopefully... Everything would go well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ... The drafts I wrote previously disappeared mysteriously. I shit you guys not. I went to bed after having written an update for all my stories but must've forgotten to save, because when I tried to find them the next morning... I shrivelled up into a mummy and lost all hope. So yeah, this took me longer to write because I got frustrated with my carelessness. The same thing happened to my other fics too, so I'm suspecting that my computer simply hates my hobby in writing and is forcing me to stop in its own cruel way. ┐(´д`)┌
> 
> On the other hand, thank you for your support and positive comments! It fills this writer with **DETEMMIENATION!** ミ(Φ﹏Φ)ミ
> 
> P.S. I accidentally pushed the CPU's restart button whilst writing this, causing the second version of this chapter to be deleted. Mother f*cker! I need to start writing on auto-saving platforms. orz


	18. Ba dum tss ┫￣旦￣┣

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The RooT of our problems...!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks, PrinzessDina. If not for you, I would've continued to ignore this story due to writer's block T_T.  
> To answer your question: Yes, I'm ok~ (*・∀-)☆

From one of the many outdoor lounge sofas he was reclining on, Bones exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, watching idly as it dances playfully into the sky before dispersing freely. It calmed his mind as he waited for ~~Papyrus~~ his brothers and their group to return.

He wasn't one to do inhalants, but sometimes... He needed it. Mind you he was not an addict. Simply someone who needed to loosen their 'muscles' and relax. 

Bones skillfully ignored the way 03 was staring unblinkingly at him from where she sat a seat away. Probably due to having noticed that Bones wasn't smoking normal cigarettes. Or maybe it was the fact that he smoked at all. Since, you know, he was still considered to be a child in the Monsters' books. What more, both his family work in law enforcement.

Way to break two laws at once... But, well, 03 would be forced to turn a blind eye. They needed to remain united in front of humans and all that jazz.

And Bones has always been an opportunist. 

His eyesockets drooped heavily as the leaves continued to work their magic. He rolled his hazy eyelights upwards, watching peacefully as the sky was dyed orange by the setting sun.

How did they come here again...?

Oh, right. After Sans had tested the waters with the representative, their party was then escorted to a hotel near the location of the Congress to rest for a short while.

* * *

_flashback_

As soon as their little group was five meters away from the army of men in black suits, Sans halted his steps, causing the other two to follow. 

* greetings, humans. now, how did it go again? ah, yes. i assure you that we **come in peace**. pardon me for sounding quite rude on our first meeting, but perhaps it would be more of a convenience if you would bring out a single representative for us to talk with? rather than i raise my voice to be heard by all hundred or so men standing here. 

Bones held in a snicker when Frisk's eyes became slightly wide the moment Sans started to speak. The other skeleton's body language was regal, with his chin tilted slightly upwards and his spine straightened to its limits. His hands were clasped confidently behind of him in an unsaid sign of someone in a superior position. His tone of voice didn't have its usual drawl that was between mischievous and falling asleep, but more of a sonorous judge condemning someone's execution. 

Frisk might be having a whiplash by such a one-eighty degree change of personality, but Bones had to hide his nostalgia. He somewhat missed his ~~sarcastic~~ polite shite of a big brother... This was Sans's usual way of talking to those irritating gossipy rabbits back when they were young.

One of the more intimidating men touched the comm in his ear and started to whisper some things. He soon nodded his head a few times before he made his way towards the centre most limo. He opened the door for the person(s) inside, which then caused all the men in black to move equally aside like how Moses split the red sea.

Kinda impressive, bruhs. Maybe they had rehearsed beforehand?

Who came out from the limo was a slight surprise. Bones had expected a sweaty man in his mid-fifties with a pot belly and receding hairline, but he got even the gender wrong. 

Those slender legs and 4-inch rivet platform stilettos ~~(oh bruh, would it be weird if he asked her where she bought it?)~~ were the first indications that nope, the representative would not be a man, but a woman. Not that there was anything wrong with them being a woman, but most of the time... men in power do not trust the fairer sex to deal with important matters that may or may not concern the safety of their whole country. Maybe in animes or movies, yes. Real life? Not so much.

The rep's body soon followed her legs, revealing a woman in a crew neck, backless, and sleeveless, black maxi dress. The slits on the sides were so high up they went way above the appropriate cut line.

... Was she even wearing panties? J-just a little more to the left and...

Bones inwardly punched himself for having such a dirty thought (he blamed his non-existent teenage hormones) before he continued his observations.

Her long blonde hair was curled and styled to one side, which brought more attention to her sharp features. Her jawline wasn't as soft as most women, but that just added to her attractiveness due to her cheekbones aligning beautifully together. Her arched eyebrows followed her almond-shaped green eyes nicely, with her pouty full lips being the main thing that draws the eyes of men. Let's not mention how curvy her body was - in all the right places to boot.

Due to the ground being uneven, she held the forearm of the assumed leader of the men in black - her long nails painted an attracted bright red - as they walked closer to the two Monsters and one child. When they were close enough for a handshake did she only stop, the scar-faced man in black taking a step back as his hardened eyes watched for any suspicious movements.

"Hello. Welcome back to the surface. I am Angelica Corazon, the chief of state's secretary, and I am here to personally escort your party to the assembly, as well as your lodgings for the duration of the conference."

Her voice was smooth as silk as she smiled, a hand brought up for a handshake.

The kid looked worried that Sans would jape her, but they have nothing to be concerned about. The stout skeleton wasn't going to fuck things up before they even begin. Furthermore, this lady looked to be the type to judge someone based on their first impressions. If Sans were to give a whoopee cushion greeting, he might never be taken seriously ever again. And that just defeats the purpose of them being here to give these humans an outlook of Monsters being civilized folks. 

Her hand was taken by Sans, the two giving each other firm handshakes as he replied. 

* i thank you on behalf of our king in agreeing to this meeting of ours. i apologize if sending a small party of messengers offends you, but we do need to take precaution before sending in the higher-ups.

After releasing his hand, Sans's eyelights travelled to the armed men in black whilst his grin turned sharp.

* though i have to admit that i'm more than overwhelmed by your... welcome... if you don't mind my opinion.

His expression resumed to being friendly yet stern again, whilst Frisk was sweating a little. The leader of the men in- oh for fuck's sake... Let's call him Scarface. Scarface, on the other hand, looked ready to murder, if his face wasn't saying it, his body language definitely was. The lady's features immediately turned apologetic, and Bones was impressed by how fast her expressions change.

This, here, is a master manipulator right here. 

* disregarding that, it is a pleasure to meet your acquaintance. i am sans. this is frisk. they are the one who managed to free us from the barrier.

Angelica's microexpression was one of slight bewilderment, but she had enough control to express nothing but openness. 

"The pleasure is all mine, Mr Sans, Ms Fris-"

* mx, if you will. they identify as non-binary.

"Pardon me. Mx Frisk. Then what of the one to your left?"

* just as you did not introduce your chaperone, you may ignore ours. 

"Oh my, that was rude of me. I was so excited to meet all of you that I had forgotten basic courtesy. He is Donald Armstrong, the captain of this group of gentlemen. They are our security squadron. I do not personally know his subordinates well enough so I am unable to introduce them all to you."

Due to her quick arse kissing, Bones suspected that she wanted to know all of their identities, as well as their positions or jobs (especially that since she kept emphasizing), just in case of any yucky scenario were to happen. 

Judging by how Sans was staring at her unblinkingly, he definitely had the same line of thinking to Bones.

* no worries. happens to the best of us. this is impact.

"Your head of security, Mr Sans? I apologize, but I didn't get what your role was...?"

Heh. 

Predictable.

Bruh.

* you can link my role as a member of a tribunal, Ms Corazon. Frisk is the Monsters' ambassador. They may speak with their hands but rest assured that we will be translating their words for them, or better yet, have a translator _at hand_  before the start of the conference. impact is not our head of security. just mine - and by extension, Frisk's. 

The pun flew over her head whilst Frisk and Bones fought to not giggle.

'Hello! It's nice to meet you! I hope we can all get along!'

The kiddo signed whilst Sans spoke out for them. Angelica's expression twisted a little, but she regained control to nod politely. 

"Well met. We will surely get along just fine, I'm sure, Mx Frisk. Will the rest of your party be following, or will it be the three of you who will be attending?"

Rather than replying to her, Sans put a hand on Frisk's shoulder.

* mind fetching them over, frisk? 

Frisk nodded before they ran off.

When they were far enough to not overhear, Sans's smile turned sharp.

* i would appreciate it if you would inform your higher-ups and colleagues to be aware of frisk's method of communication. we would be displeased if their words were to be lost in translation just because none might speak with hands.

"I will personally promise you that none at the Congress shall disrespect her-their opinions simply because they are unable to communicate with words."

* thank you, ms corazon. i shall hold you to that. excuse me if that had come off as threatening. it wasn't my intention. 

"No worries, Mr Sans. I'm curious, though. How did you learn sign language when... uhm..."

She hesitated, as if not wanting to offend him.

* when we're sealed underground? i recommend that you make a list. we will answer those during the meeting. 

"... Right."

After having introduced Asgore and co to the lady - with Papyrus energetically claiming that he was the mascot - they were then escorted to a hotel without much fuss. The entire building was clear of civilians, but none of the Monsters paid it any mind since they were still high on excitement. Everyone had thoroughly enjoyed their first ride in the car (oversized limo). Soon enough, they rested and ate an early lunch before leaving for the conference, the queen and Angelica having a friendly conversation about their respective kid(s).

_end of the flashback._

* * *

Now, he relaxed on one of the many comfortable lounges on the rooftop veranda, having opted to stay behind. Of course, there were guards standing by the door and around the edges of the roof, treating him (and 03) as if he was going to go on a killing spree the moment their backs were turned.

He propped his cheekbones against a fist, his thumb pressing against his ear hole discreetly. With an eyesocket closed, he split his attention into two - his surroundings and the hidden earpiece.

The frequencies were constantly changing as he kept an ear out for anything amiss. With the help of his Net's magic-technology engineering department, Bones had been dropping and glueing hidden bugs the moment he made contact with the humans - not worried that they would be discovered due to their likeness to real insects.

Either way, a few destroyed bugs were nothing when compared to the benefits his organization would obtain.

In order to expand his Net above ground, he would need to know the ins and outs of the human government, most importantly their dirty laundry. What better way to learn about them then to monitor their dealings 24/7? 

Papyrus, having known of Bones's temper, agreed to let him stay behind. Of course the former looked seriously worried as he weighed the pros and cons, but with Undyne's and Sans's help, they managed to convince the worrywart to allow Bones to remain in the hotel. With the condition that he be guarded by 03.

A pain, but if that was what it takes to get him out of boring meetings... ok, bruh. Six of his bugs were recording the contents of the conference, anyway. So he would simply let Kharon deal with that later. 

"Just what. Do you think. You're doing?!"

Looks like 03 had had enough of his blatant disregard of rules.

The guard had moved so that she was sitting stiffly beside of him as she whisper-yell at him, her eyes switching from glaring to him and glancing suspiciously at the humans.

"Apart from leisurely smoking, what does it look like I'm doing, bruh?"

"Something highly illegal."

"The only thing illegal about this is that they're not allowed for medicinal purposes. I need this to relieve my anxiety."

If being bored whilst waiting for his bros to come back could be defined as anxiety. 

Hahaha kidding. 

But on the serious note, he needed this right now. If Papyrus was here, he wouldn't have to worry about his existential crisis hitting unexpectedly. Now that he was somewhat alone... He inwardly grimaced. 

In order to prevent any bouts of questioning his existence whilst back on the surface, he desperately breathed in the burnt leaves whilst grinning cheekily at 03 to hide his discomfort. 

He didn't want to remember his past life.

He didn't want to remember that this life was a ga-

Tch.

The sky, as well as the city lights, were doing an awesome job of reminding him.

He took another hit as held the smoke in for a couple of seconds longer than necessary before he exhaled. The edges of his sights instantly fuzzed.

"Shit. Give it here, kid. We both know you're too young for that."

_'Excuse me. I'm kind hitting the elderly mark over here. Mentally that is. So, technically, I'm older than you. Calling your elder a kid is rude.'_

Rather than saying that, he slurred sleepily. 

"Chillax, bruh. You're acting wayyyy too suspicious. Look, that human over there is twitching oddly. That's hilarious."

Or maybe that was because of their looks.

He, a living, breathing skeleton. An epitome of the reaper. And since he was wearing a black windbreaker with wide sleeves that covered to the tip of his phalanges... it appeared pretty similar to a cloak. All he was missing was a scythe to complete the whole look. It was no wonder they avoided looking at him. Though if he had to admit, it kind of stung. After almost fifteen years of living in this skeletal body, he found himself to be quite an attractive bloke, ya know? Monsters hit on him all the time when he didn't reveal his body's age. 

For 03, she was the essence of fear for arachnophobes everywhere. Unlike Muffet, this spider lady is only slightly shorter than Asgore's, maybe reaching about 2.1m. Her appearance is also similar to an Arachne - half human half spider. Many anime paint them to be a beautiful busty lady with a spider body for legs, whilst games introduce them as fearful men-eating boss monsters. In reality... 03 was similar to what the anime show, but without the boobs and more eyes and fangs. Her whole body is purple, and she does have human-like hair on her head, but her features were inhumane; what with the eight different shaped eyes taking the upper portion of her face, whilst the wide pincers covered the bottom half. He'll avoid mentioning that two of her eyes were situated at the back of her head. Oh, whoops. 

She and Muffet are sisters, by the way.

Not because all spiders are related and all that. Nooo. That's simply racist. There are many spider Monsters, and not all of them are related. It's because when he visited Muffet's house, he saw a photo of the two of them together. He asked her who that is... And well, Muffet is pretty sick in the head for lusting over her family member. Her sister at that. 

Anyway, Bones chuckled lowly as he brought his precious inhalent away from her swiping hands. 

"Give it. Or I will tell Boss that you smoked **RooT**! Ten of them, to be precise!"

She hissed as she made another attempt. 

Bones simply scooted further away whilst stretching his arm to keep it from her. Because of her height, it was a struggle, but he managed as he pushed her chin with his other hand whilst also refrained the use of magic. He didn't want to accidentally harm her. 

"Go away. Your job is to guard me. Not nitpick."

"This is no minor thing, child! Those are banned for a reason."

She used two of her eight legs to pin down his shoulder as she leaned over his body to reach for the cigarette stick.

"Woah woah woah! Get your fat arse off of me-"

He whisper-shout whilst contradictively using an arm to pull her upper body down to his so that she won't have a height advantage over him.

"Who are you calling fat?! These are all muscles-"

"I don't care! You ain't getting this bad boy-"

"Impact! I demand that you- W-wha?! Just where are you touching!"

"Me?! Just where are YOU touching?!"

Unknowingly, their volume has increased, attracting the eyes of the human guards as they watched, bewildered and amused, as a spider lady was trying to reach for a cigarette stick whilst a skeleton half her height was attempting to get away. All the while, the two were getting more and more entangled in each other's limbs and clothing.

"If you continue this, I will wrap you with my web and-"

"Ohhh~ Kinky. I didn't know you're into little-"

"Finish that. I dare you!"

"You sure you want to dare me, fatty?"

"This... BRAT!!!"

With a roar, she used all of her legs to hold him down, causing him to be unable to move even an inch. 

Bones broke out in sweat as he nervously chuckled at her furious expression.

"C-calm down, Tuffet-"

"DO NOT. CALL ME. BY THAT. NAME!!"

"Yes ma'am! Sorry ma'am! Won't happen again, ma'am! That was a mistake, ma-"

"Shut up! Just give me... uh?"

Seeing that she had frozen up and was staring blankly at something behind of him, he tilted his head further up so that he was able to see upside down. With her above of him and squishing him into the cushions, it was a struggle, but he managed.

"Sansy! You're back!"

He grinned widely as he stared, upside down, straight into the eye sockets of his oldest brother, who's eyelights had disappeared and all that was left behind was an eerie grin devoid of life.

Sans looked... for the lack of better wording; ~~hot~~ bloodthirsty. 

* **g** _e_ **t**   _o_ f _**f**_   **m** _y_   **_b_ r** _o_ **t h** _e **r.**_

The weight above of him was instantly gone. When his eyelights searched for her, he couldn't help but to sweatdrop at seeing her at the other side of the rooftop garden, having frightened the shite out of the human guards near her. 

Her whole body language screamed skittish as all her eyes were busy looking at anyone but Sans.

Jeez, 03 bruh, Sans might be scary when he uses that demonic voice of his, but the most he would do is give a lecture. Or spank. Not sure if he would spank someone not considered family, though. But lecture? Yes. 

* return to undyne. she's going to brief you.

"Yes, sir!"

She saluted before hightailing, with half the human guards following after her whilst the remaining continued to hold their ground.

Well... Let's try to distract Sans from seeing what exactly she was trying to get from him. 

So with relaxed movements, the hand that wasn't holding onto the leftover cigarette butt reached for the seat's back in order to lift himself into a seating position. Before he could, however, Sans was already on top of him, trapping his skull between the stout skeleton's arms as he felt a warmth hovering just on top of his pelvis.

W-wait?! 

Why was Sans yuka-don **[1]** _-ing_ him?!

Bones's cheekbones immediately burst into neon purple as his eyelights spun around wildly for escape. 

Bruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbruhbr-

* and what, exactly, was that supposed to be? 

Sans's voice was deeper by an octave, causing Bones's whole frame to rattle softly.

That was crazily sexy! 

Don't judge him! If you were pinned down by Sans, you would be blushing like mad too! 

* impact?

Sue him for trying to escape reality! This position was really....!!!

"T-that was, uh, w-what?"

Bones.exe has stopped working.

Rebooting in progress.

The effects of the inhalant weren't helping since they were causing his mind to conjure many indecent scenarios due to how high he was.

* i asked what happened.

"No-nothing. Nothing happened. Absolutely nothing. Zero. Zilch. Nada."

If that wasn't suspicious, he would change his name to Poopoohead. Great. Get it together, Bones! Sans can't notice anything! 

His oldest brother stared blankly at him, unmoving from his position as Bones continued to sweat.

After what seemed to be an eternity to him, Sans moved. Although he seriously preferred the other to move AWAY. Bones dared not breath loudly as the eldest of the skelebros leaned in so that his teeth were directly touching Bones's cervical vertebrae. 

Sans was, technically, k-kissing his neck, right?! S-since skeletons have no lips and ohmigewdnessbruhhisteethisonbones'sneckomg-

The moment of bliss was over far too soon. Sans rose from his position so that he was now fully sitting on top of Bones as the other skeleton sighed loudly, having facepalm.

The older looked stressed as his phalanges pinched in between his lidded eyesockets.

* impact... i'm going to regret asking this... but are you high?

That snapped him out of his daydreams as he parted his teeth to say something. Sadly, nothing but a squeak came out.

* and please, baby bro, don't lie to me. i smell RooT all over you. with a capital r and t.

Oh.

So that was why...

Welp.

Shite.

Bones laughed nervously as he clenched his fists, the snuffed out butt temporarily hidden. How was he getting out of this one...? 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [1] Yuka-don: pinning the other party to the floor - or in this case, to the sofa. Google it.
> 
> I'm so sorry for the delay! I was also having a hard time with this chapter because my brain farted. I'm no politician! How am I supposed to know what they're going to say or how they will behave (∥￣■￣∥)?! I don't even read the newspaper or make an effort to learn about the world's events. 
> 
> Most of the conversations go like this when I bring up a 'new' thing:  
> Me: Le gasp! I just heard that there was this dude that hit a 7-year-old kid whilst driving his e-scooter! Furthermore, he scolded the kid by saying "Y U NO MOVE?!" rather than saying "sorry, bruh"!!!!  
> Bestie: ...  
> Me: What?  
> Bestie: Didn't that happen, like, a year ago or something?  
> Me: (¯﹃¯*)  
> Bestie: Right... Of course. Why am I not surprised? After all, it did take you **at least** 6 months to reply me on Facebook. And a day on WhatsApp. And maybe half a day on Steam. And not forgetting your sudden "AFK" breaks on Discord. I'm not even going to bring up anything about answering your phone because, "clearly", you "forgot" to unsilence it again. Let's not even **mention** about you calling me back. That's an **impossible** scenario.  
>  Me: (*´﹃`)  
> Bestie: ...Why am I your friend again?  
> Me: 〜(꒪꒳꒪)〜  
> Bestie: ... go write more fanfiction.  
> Me: (*゜－＾)ゞ  
> Bestie: Did you just... wink at me...?  
> Me: (๑ゝڡ◕๑)  
> Bestie: You disgust me.  
> Me: ∑(ΦдΦlll
> 
> Thank you for your support and positive comments! It fills this writer with DE **TEMMIE** NATION!ミ(Φ﹏Φ)ミ


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